LIBRARY 

OF  THE  i 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

GIFT  OF 

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Class 


TO.<V 


SILENCE   OF  GOD 


THE  SILENCE  OF  GOD 


BY 


ROBERT    ANDERSON,    C.B.,    LL.D. 

M 
Assistant  Commissioner  of  Police  of  the  Metropolis 


jjorh 

DODD    MEAD    &    CO 
149-151    FIFTH   AVENUE 

1897 


PREFACE 

AS  regards  its  chief  aim  this  book  may  be 
left  to  speak  for  itself.  No  preface  is 
needed  save  by  way  of  appeal  to  the  reader  to 
deal  kindly  with  its  faults.  Written  during  a 
busy  year  of  a  busy  life,  it  may  possibly  claim 
some  little  indulgence  upon  that  score. 

And  as  for  the  rest  two  prefatory  words  may 
suffice.  The  one  is  this  sentence  from  Froude's 
"  History  of  England  "  : — "  For  the  religion  of 
Christ  was  exchanged  the  Christian  religion." 
The  other  is  the  plea  that,  where  controversy 
comes  in,  the  principles  of  civilised  warfare 
have  here  been  kept  to :  every  consideration  for 
the  enemy,  but  no  quarter  for  traitors. 

39,  LIXUEX  GARDEXS,  W. 


112594 


CONTENTS 


PAGK 

CHAPTER    I.  1 

" 


33 

V 48 

61 
VII.   ....        ?I 

84 

IX-  .   96 

X  .     106 

XI-        •     •     •     .  117 


.  146 
APPENDIX   .     .     .     .     .163 


CHAPTER  I 

A  SI  LENT  Heaven  is  the  greatest  mystery  of 
our  existence.  Some  there  are,  indeed,  for 
whom  the  problem  has  no  perplexities.  In  a 
philosophy  of  silly  optimism,  or  a  life  of  selfish 
isolation,  they  have  "attained  Nirvana!'  For  such 
the  sad  and  hideous  realities  of  life  around  us 
have  no  existence.  Upon  their  path  these  cast  no 
shadow.  The  serene  atmosphere  of  their  fools' 
paradise  is  undisturbed  by  the  cry  of  the  suffering 
and  the  oppressed.  But  earnest  and  thoughtful 
men  face  these  realities,  and  have  ears  to  hear  that 
cry  ;  and  their  indignant  wonder  finds  utterance 
at  times  in  some  such  words  as  those  of  the  old 
Hebrew  prophet  and  bard,  "  Doth  God  know  ? 
And  is  there  knowledge  in  the  Most  High?" 


2  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

Society,  even  in  the  great  centres  of  our  modern 
civilisation,  is  all  too  like  a  slave-ship,  where,  with 
the  sounds  of  music  and  laughter  and  revelry  on 
the  upper  deck,  there  mingle  the  groans  of  untold 
misery  battened  down  below.  Who  can  estimate 
the  sorrow  and  suffering  and  wrong  endured  during 
a  single  round  of  the  clock  even  in  the  favoured 
metropolis  of  highly  favoured  England  ?  And  if  it 
be  thus  in  the  green  tree,  what  shall  be  said  of  the 
dry  !  What  mind  is  competent  to  grasp  the  sum 
of  all  this  great  world's  misery,  heaped  up  day  after 
day,  year  after  year,  century  after  century?  Human 
hearts  may  plan,  and  human  hands  achieve,  some 
little  to  alleviate  it,  and  the  strong  and  ready  arm 
of  human  law  may  accomplish  much  in  the  pro- 
tection of  the  weak  and  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked.  But  as  for  Gocl — the  light  of  moon  and 
stars  is  not  more  cold  and  pitiless  than  He  appears 
to  be! 

Every  new  chapter  in  the  story  of  Turkish  mis- 
rule raises  a  fresh  storm  of  indignation  throughout 
Europe.  The  conscience  of  Christendom  is  out- 
raged by  tales  of  oppression  and  cruelty  and  wrong 
inflicted  on  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Porte. 


THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD  3 

Here  is  a  testimony  to  the  Armenian  massacres  of 
1895  ••— 

"  Over  60,000  Armenians  have  been  butchered.  In  Trebizond, 
Erzeroum,  Erzinghian,  Hassankaleh,  and  numberless  other  places 
the  Christians  were  crushed  like  grapes  during  the  vintage.  The 
frantic  mob,  seething  and  surging  in  the  streets  of  the  cities,  swept 
down  upon  the  defenceless  Armenians,  plundered  their  shops, 
gutted  their  houses,  then  joked  and  jested  with  the  terrified  victims, 
as  cats  play  with  mice.  The  rivulets  were  choked  up  with  corpses  ; 
the  streams  ran  red  with  human  blood  ;  the  forest  glades  and  rocky 
caves  were  peopled  with  the  dead  and  dying ;  among  the  black 
ruins  of  once  prosperous  villages  lay  roasted  infants  by  their 
mangled  mothers'  corpses  ;  pits  were  dug  at  night  by  the  wretches 
destined  to  fill  them,  many  of  whom,  flung  in  when  but  lightly 
wounded,  awoke  underneath  a  mountain  of  clammy  corpses,  and 
vainly  wrestled  with  death  and  with  the  dead,  who  shut  them  out 
from  light  and  life  for  ever. 

"A  man  in  Erzeroum,  hearing  a  tumult,  and  fearing  for  his 
children,  who  were  playing  in  the  street,  went  out  to  seek  and 
save  them.  He  was  borne  down  upon  by  the  mob.  He  pleaded 
for  his  life,  protesting  that  he  had  always  lived  in  peace  with  his 
Moslem  neighbours,  and  sincerely  loved  them.  The  statement 
may  have  represented  a  fact,  or  it  may  have  been  but  a  plea  for 
pity.  The  ringleader,  however,  told  him  that  that  was  the  proper 
spirit,  and  would  be  condignly  rewarded.  The  man  was  then  stripped, 
and  a  chunk  of  his  flesh  cut  out  of  his  body,  and  jestingly  offered 
for  sale :  '  Good  fresh  meat,  and  dirt  cheap,'  exclaimed  some  of 
the  crowd.  *  Who'll  buy  fine  dog's  meat  ? '  echoed  the  amused 
bystanders.  The  writhing  wretch  uttered  piercing  screams  as  some 
of  the  mob,  who  had  just  come  from  rifling  the  shops,  opened  a 
bottle  and  poured  vinegar  or  some  acid  into  the  gaping  wound. 
He  called  on  God  and  man  to  end  his  agonies.  But  they  had  only 
begun.  Soon  afterwards  two  little  boys  came  up,  the  elder  crying, 
'  Hairik,  Hairik  (Father,  father),  save  me  !  See  what  they've  done 
to  me  ! '  and  pointed  to  his  head,  from  which  the  blood  was  stream- 


4  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

ing  over  his  handsome  face,  and  down  his  neck.  The  younger 
brother — a  child  of  about  three — was  playing  with  a  wooden  toy. 
The  agonising  man  was  silent  for  a  second  and  then,  glancing  at 
these  his  children,  made  a  frantic  but  vain  effort  to  snatch  a  dagger 
from  a  Turk  by  his  side.  This  was  the  signal  for  the  renewal  of  his 
torments.  The  bleeding  boy  was  finally  dashed  with  violence 
against  the  dying  father,  who  began  to  lose  strength  and  conscious- 
ness, and  the  two  were  then  pounded  to  death  where  they  lay.  The 
younger  child  sat  near,  dabbling  his  wooden  toy  in  the  blood  of  his 
father  and  brother,  and  looking  up,  now  through  smiles  at  the 
prettily  dressed  Kurds  and  now  through  tears  at  the  dust-begrimed 
thing  that  had  lately  been  his  father.  A  slash  of  a  sabre  wound  up 
his  short  experience  of  God's  world,  and  the  crowd  turned  its 
attention  to  others. 

' '  These  are  but  isolated  scenes  revealed  for  a  brief  second  by  the 
light,  as  it  were,  of  a  momentary  lightning-flash.  The  worst  cannot 
be  described." — Contemporary  Review,  January,  1896. 

The  following  refers  to  still  more  recent 
horrors  : — 

"In  no  place  in  this  region  has  the  attack  upon  the  Christians 
been  more  savage  than  in  Egin.  Every  male  above  twelve  years  of 
age  who  could  be  found  was  slain.  Only  one  Armenian  was  found 
who  had  been  seen  and  spared.  Many  children  and  boys  were  laid 
on  their  backs  and  their  necks  cut  like  sheep.  The  women  and 
children  were  gathered  together  in  the  yard  of  the  Government 
building  and  in  various  places  throughout  the  town.  Turks,  Kurds, 
and  soldiers  went  among  these  women,  selected  the  fairest,  and  led 
them  aside  to  outrage  them.  In  the  village  of  Pinguan  fifteen 
women  threw  themselves  into  the  river  to  escape  dishonour." -  —  The 
77wes,  December  10,  1896. 

And  what  is  the  element  in  all  this  which  most 


THE   SILENCE    OF   GOD  5 

exasperates  the  public  sentiment?  It  is  that  the 
Sultan  has  the  power  to  prevent  all  this,  but  will 
not.  That,  while  possessing  ample  means  to  re- 
strain and  punish,  he  remains  unmoved,  and  in  the 
safe  seclusion  of  his  palace  gives  himself  up  to  a 
life  of  luxury  and  ease.  But  has  Almighty  God 
no  power  to  check  such  crimes  ?  Even  Abdul 
Hamid  has  been  shamed  into  laying  aside  the 
dignity  of  kingship,  and  making  heard  his  personal 
voice  in  Europe  to  repel  the  charge  his  seeming 
inaction  has  raised  to  his  discredit.1  But  in  vain 
do  we  strain  our  ears  to  hear  some  voice  from  the 
throne  of  the  Divine  Majesty.  The  far-off  heaven 
where,  in  perfect  peace  and  unutterable  glory,  God 
dwells  and  reigns,  is  SILENT ! 

"  So  I  returned,  and  considered  all  the  oppres- 
sions that  are  done  under  the  sun ;  and  behold,  the 
tears  of  such  as  were  oppressed,  and  they  had  no 
comforter  ;  and  on  the  side  of  their  oppressors 
there  was  power  ;  but  they  had  no  comforter." 
And  this  in  a  world  ruled  and  governed  by  a 
God  who  is  Almighty  ! 

1  The  Marquis  of  Salisbury's  speech  at  the  Pavilion,  Brighton,  on 
the  1 9th  of  November,  1895. 


6  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

And  when  we  withdraw  our  thoughts  from  the 
great  world  around  us,  and  fix  them  upon  the 
narrow  circle  of  His  faithful  people,  the  facts  are 
no  less  stern,  and  the  mystery  grows  more  in- 
scrutable. Devoted  men  leave  our  shores,  for- 
saking the  security,  the  comforts,  the  charms,  the 
countless  benefits  of  life  in  the  midst  of  our 
Christian  civilisation,  to  carry  the  knowledge  of 
the  true  God  to  heathen  lands.  But  by  and  by 
we  hear  of  their  massacre  by  the  hands  of  those 
whom  thus  they  sought  to  elevate  and  bless.  And 
where  is  "  the  true  God '  they  served  ?  The  little 
band  of  Christian  men  who  were  in  a  special  sense 
His  accredited  ambassadors,  noble  women  too, 
who  shared  in  their  exile  and  their  labours,  and 
little  children  whose  tender  helplessness  might 
excite  the  pity  of  a  very  devil,  in  their  terror  and 
agony  cried  to  Heaven  for  the  succour  which  never 
came.  The  God  they  trusted  might  surely  have 
turned  the  hearts,  or  restrained  the  hands,  of  their 
brutal  murderers.  Is  it  possible  to  imagine  cir- 
cumstances that  would  more  fitly  claim  the  help 
of  Him  whom  they  worshipped  as  all  powerful 
both  in  heaven  and  on  earth  ?  But  the  earth  has 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  7 

drunk   in  their   blood,  and    a   silent  Heaven   has 
seemed  to  mock  their  cry ! 

And  these  horrors  are  but  mere  ripples  on  the 
surface  of  the  deep,  wide  sea  of  the  Church's 
sufferings  throughout  the  ages  of  her  history. 
From  the  old  days  of  Pagan  Rome  right  down 
through  the  centuries  of  so-called  "  Christian " 
persecutions,  the  untold  millions  of  the  martyrs, 
the  best  and  purest  and  noblest  of  our  race,  have 
been  given  up  to  violence  and  outrage  and  death 
in  hideous  forms.  The  heart  grows  sick  at  the 
appalling  story,  and  we  turn  away  with  a  dull  but 
baseless  hope  that  it  may  be  in  part  at  least 
untrue.  But  the  facts  are  too  terrible  to  make 
exaggeration  in  the  record  of  them  possible. 
Torn  by  wild  beasts  in  the  arena,  torn  by  men  as 
merciless  as  wild  beasts,  and,  far  more  hateful, 
in  the  torture  chambers  of  the  Inquisition,  His 
people  have  died,  with  faces  turned  to  heaven, 
and  hearts  upraised  in  prayer  to  God  ;  but  the 
heaven  has  seemed  as  hard  as  brass,  and  the  God 
of  their  prayers  as  powerless  as  themselves  or  as 
callous  as  their  persecutors  ! 

But  most  men  are  selfish  in  their  sympathies. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

Some  private  grief  at  times  looms  greater  than  all 
the  sum  of  the  world's  miseries  and  the  Church's 
sufferings.  If  ever  there  was  a  saint  on  earth,  it  is 
the  mother  to  whose  deathbed  sons  and  daughters 
have  been  summoned  from  various  pursuits  of 
business  or  of  pleasure.  In  all  their  wanderings 
that  mother's  piety  and  faith  have  been  a  guiding 
and  restraining  influence.  And  now,  thus  gathered 
once  more  in  the  old  home,  they  are  keen  to  watch 
how,  in  the  solemn  crisis  of  her  last  days  on  earth, 
God  will  deal  with  one  of  the  loveliest  and  truest 
of  His  children.  And  what  do  they  behold  ?  The 
poor  body  racked  with  pain  that  never  ceases  till 
all  capacity  for  suffering  is  quenched  by  the  hand 
of  Death !  If  human  skill  could  give  relief  the 
attending  physician  would  be  dismissed  as  heart- 
less or  incompetent.  Is  God,  then,  incompetent  or 
heartless  ?  To  Him  they  look  to  relieve  the  death 
agonies  of  the  dying  saint,  but  they  look  to  Him 
in  vain ! 

Or  it  may  be  some  grief  more  selfish  still.  The 
crash  of  some  great  sorrow  that  turns  a  bright 
home  into  a  waste,  and  leaves  the  heart  so  be- 
numbed and  hard  that  even  the  so-called  "con- 


THE   SILENCE    OF    GOD  9 

solations  of  religion  "  appear  but  hollow  platitudes. 
Why  should  God  be  so  cruel  ?  Why  is  Heaven  so 
terribly  silent  ? 

The  most  prolific  fancy,  the  most  facile  pen, 
would  fail  to  picture  or  portray,  in  their  endless 
variety,  the  experiences  which  have  thus  stamped 
out  the  last  embers  of  faith  in  many  a  crushed 
and  desolated  heart.  "  There  are  times,"  as  a 
Christian  writer  x  puts  it,  "  when  the  heaven  that  is 
over  our  heads  seems  to  be  brass,  and  the  earth 
that  is  under  us  to  be  iron,  and  we  feel  our  hearts 
sink  within  us  under  the  calm  pressure  of  un- 
yielding and  unsympathising  law."  How  true  the 
statement,  but  how  inadequate  !  If  it  were  merely 
on  behalf  of  this  or  that  individual  that  God  failed 
to  interfere,  or  on  one  occasion  or  another,  belief 
in  His  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness  ought  to 
check  our  murmurs  and  soothe  our  fears.  And, 
further,  if,  as  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs,  even  a 
whole  generation  passed  away  without  His  once 
declaring  Himself,  faith  might  glance  back,  and 
hope  look  forward,  amidst  heart  searchings  for  the 
cause  of  His  silence.  But  what  confronts  us  is 

1  Dean  Mansel. 


io  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

the  fact,  explain   it  as  we  may,  that  for  eighteen 
centuries  the  world  has  never  witnessed  a  public 

IQ 

manifestation  of  His  presence  or  His  power. 

"Doth  God  know?"  At  first  the  thought 
comes  up  as  an  impatient  yet  not  irreverent 
appeal.  But  presently  the  words  are  formed  upon 
the  lip  to  imply  a  challenge  and  suggest  a  doubt ; 
and  at  last  they  are  boldly  uttered  as  the  avowal 
of  a  settled  unbelief.  And  then  the  sacred 
records  which  awed  and  charmed  the  mind  in 
childhood,  telling  of  "  mighty  acts "  of  Divine 
intervention  "  in  the  old  time,"  begin  to  lose  their 
vividness  and  force,  till  at  last  they  sink  to  the 
level  of  Hebrew  legends  and  old-world  myths.  In 
presence  of  the  stern  and  dismal  facts  of  life,  the 
faith  of  earlier  days  gives  way,  for  surely  a  God 
who  is  entirely  passive  and  always  unavailable  is 
for  all  practical  purposes  non-existent. 


CHAPTER  II 

~\  ^THEN  we  turn  to  Holy  Writ  this  mystery 
of  a  silent  Heaven,  which  is  driving  so  many 
to  infidelity,  if  not  to  atheism,  seems  to  become 
more  utterly  insoluble.  The  life  and  teaching  of 
the  great  Prophet  of  Nazareth  have  claimed  the 
admiration  of  multitudes,  even  of  those  who  have 
denied  to  Him  the  deeper  homage  of  their 
faith.  All  generous  minds  acclaim  Him  as  the 
noblest  figure  that  has  ever  passed  across  the 
stage  of  human  life.  But  Christianity  claims 
for  Him  infinitely  more  than  this.  The  great 
and  unknown  God  had  dwelt  in  impenetrable 
darkness  and  unapproachable  light  —  seeming 
contradictories  which  harmonise  in  fact  in  a 
perfect  representation  of  His  attitude  toward 


12  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

men.  But  now  He  at  last  declared  Himself. 
The  Nazarene  was  not  merely  the  pattern  man 
of  all  the  ages,  He  was  Himself  Divine,  "  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh."  The  inspired  prophets  had 
foreshadowed  this  :  now  it  was  accomplished.  The 
dream  of  heathen  mythology  was  realised  in  the 
great  foundation  fact  of  Christianity — God  assumed 
the  form  of  a  man  and  dwelt  as  a  man  among 
men,  speaking  words  such  as  mere  man  never 
spoke,  and  scattering  on  every  hand  the  proofs  of 
His  Divine  character  and  mission. 

But  the  sphere  of  the  display  was  confined  to 
the  narrowest  limits — the  towns  and  villages  of  a 
district  scarcely  larger  than  an  English  county. 
If  this  was  to  be  the  end  of  it,  a  theory  so  sublime 
must  be  exploded  by  its  inherent  incredibility.  But 
throughout  His  ministry  He  spoke  of  a  mysterious 
death  He  had  to  suffer,  and  of  His  rising  from  the 
dead  and  returning  to  the  heaven  from  which  He 
had  come  down,  and  of  the  triumphs  of  His  power 
to  follow  upon  that  ascension — triumphs  such  as 
they  to  whom  He  spoke  were  then  incapable  of 
understanding.  And  in  keeping  with  the  hopes 
He  thus  inspired,  among  His  latest  utterances, 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  13 

spoken  after  His  resurrection  and  in  view  of  His 
ascension,  we  find  these  sublime  and  pregnant 
words — "  All  power  is  given  unto  Me  in  heaven 
and  on  earth."  The  position  of  avowed  unbelief 
here  is  perfectly  intelligible  ;  but  what  can  be  said 
for  the  covert  scepticism  of  modern  Christianity 
which  explains  this  utterance  to  mean  nothing- 
more  than  the  assertion  of  a  mystical  authority  to 
send  out  preachers  of  the  gospel ! 

Accept  the  scheme  of  revelation  as  to  man's 
apostasy  and  fall,  and  his  consequent  alienation 
from  God,  and  the  history  of  the  world  down  to 
the  time  of  Christ  can  be  explained.  But  type  and 
promise  and  prophecy  testified  with  united  voice 
that  the  advent  of  Messiah  should  be  the  dawn  of 
a  brighter  day,  when  "  the  heavens  should  rule," 
when  all  wrong  should  be  redressed,  and  sorrow 
and  discord  should  give  place  to  gladness  and 
peace.  The  angelic  host  who  heralded  His  birth 
confirmed  the  testimony,  and  seemed  to  point  to 
its  near  fulfilment.  And  these  words  of  Christ 
Himself  ring  out  like  a  proclamation  that  earth's 
great  jubilee  at  last  was  come.  Nor  did  the  events 
of  the  early  days  which  followed  belie  the  hope. 


14  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

If  because  of  a  great  public  miracle  wrought  by 
them  in  His  name  the  apostles  were  threatened 
with  penalties,  they  appealed  from  men  to  God, 
and  then  and  there  God  gave  public  proof  that  He 
heard  their  prayer,  for  "the  place  was  shaken 
where  they  were  assembled."  I  Sudden  judgment 
fell  upon  Ananias  and  Sapphira  when  they  sinned, 
and  as  a  consequence  "  great  fear  came  upon  all."  2 
"  By  the  hands  of  the  apostles  were  many  signs 
and  wonders  wrought  among  the  people."  3  From 
the  surrounding  villages  "  the  multitude  " — that  is 
the  inhabitants  en  masse — gathered  to  Jerusalem 
carrying  their  sick,  "and  they  were  healed  every 
one''  4  And  when  their  exasperated  enemies  seized 
the  apostles  and  thrust  them  into  the  common 
prison,  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord  by  night  opened 
the  prison  doors  and  brought  them  forth."  5 

At  this  very  period  it  was,  no  doubt,  that  the 
martyr  Stephen  fell.  Yes,  but  ere  he  sank  beneath 
the  blows  showered  upon  him  by  his  fierce 
murderers,  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  revealed 
to  him  a  vision  of  his  Lord  in  glory.  If  martyr- 

1  Acts  iv.  31.  2  Ibid.  v.  i-n.  3  Ibid.  v.  12. 

4  Ibid.  v.  16.  5  Ibid.  v.  19. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  15 

dom  brought  such  visions  now,  who  would  shrink 
from  being  a  martyr !  By  a  like  vision  the  most 
prominent  witness  to  his  death  became  changed 
into  an  apostle  of  the  faith  he  had  resisted  and 
blasphemed.  And  when  he  in  his  turn  found 
himself  in  the  grasp  of  cruel  enemies  at  Philippi, 
his  midnight  prayer  was  answered  by  an  earth- 
quake which  shook  the  foundations  of  his  prison. 
Unseen  hands  struck  off  the  chains  which  bound 
him,  freed  his  feet  from  the  stocks  in  which  they 
had  been  made  fast,  and  threw  the  gaol  doors 
open. 

The  Apostle  Peter,  too,  had  experienced  a  like 
deliverance  when  held  a  prisoner  by  Herod  at 
Jerusalem,  and  this  on  the  very  eve  of  the  day 
appointed  for  his  death.  The  record  is  definite 
and  thrilling.  "  Peter  was  sleeping  between  two 
soldiers,  bound  with  two  chains  ;  and  the  keepers 
before  the  door  kept  the  prison,  and  behold  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  came  upon  him,  and  a  light 
shined  in  the  prison  ;  and  he  smote  Peter  on  the 
side  and  raised  him  up,  saying,  Arise  up  quickly. 
And  his  chains  fell  off  from  his  hands."  "  The 
iron  gate "  of  the  prison  "  opened  to  them  of  its 


16  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

own  accord,"  and  together  they  passed    into  the 
street. 

These  are  but  gleanings  from  the  narrative  of 
the  opening  chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
Divine  intervention  was  no  mystic  theory  with 
these  men.  "  All  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth  " 
was  no  mere  shibboleth.  The  story  of  the  infant 
Church,  like  the  early  history  of  the  Hebrew 
nation,  was  an  unbroken  record  of  miracles.  But 
there  the  parallel  ends.  Under  the  old  economy 
the  cessation  of  Divine  intervention  in  human 
affairs  was  regarded  as  abnormal,  and  the  fact  was 
explained  by  national  apostasy  and  sin.  And  the 
times  of  national  apostasy  were  precisely  the 
period  of  the  prophetic  dispensation.  Then  it  was 
that  the  Divine  voice  was  heard  with  increasing 
clearness.  But  in  contrast  with  this,  Heaven  has 
now  been  dumb  for  eighteen  long  centuries.  This 
fact,  moreover,  might  seem  less  strange  if  prophecy 
had  ceased  with  Malachi,  and  miracles  had  not 
been  renewed  in  Messianic  times.  But  though 
miraculous  powers  and  prophetic  gifts  abounded  in 
the  Pentecostal  Church,  yet  when  the  testimony 
passed  out  from  the  narrow  sphere  of  Judaism 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  17 

and  was  confronted  by  the  philosophy  and  civili- 
sation of  the  heathen  world — at  the  very  time  in 
fact  when,  according  to  accepted  theories,  their 
voice  was  specially  required — that  voice  died  away 
for  ever. 

Is  there  nothing  here  to  excite  our  wonder? 
Some  of  course  will  dispose  of  the  matter  by 
rejecting  every  record  of  miracles,  whether  in  Old 
Testament  times  or  New,  as  mere  legend  or  fable. 
Others  again  will  protest  that  miracles  are  actually 
wrought  to-day  at  certain  favoured  shrines.  But 
here  in  Britain,  at  least,  most  men  are  neither 
superstitious  nor  infidel.  They  believe  the  Biblical 
record  of  miracles  in  the  past,  and  they  assent  to 
the  fact  that  ever  since  the  days  of  the  apostles 
the  silence  of  Heaven  has  been  unbroken.  Yet 
when  challenged  to  account  for  this,  they  are 
either  wholly  dumb  or  else  they  offer  explanations 
which  are  utterly  inadequate,  if  not  absolutely 
untrue. 

To  plead  that  the  idea  of  Divine  intervention 
in  human  affairs  is  unreasonable  or  absurd  is  only 
to  afford  a  proof  how  easily  the  mind  becomes 
enslaved  by  the  ordinary  facts  of  experience. 


i8  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

The  believer  recognises  that  such  intervention  was 
common  in  ancient  times,  and  the  unbeliever  most 
fairly  argues  that  if  there  really  existed  a  God,  all- 
good  and  almighty,  such  intervention  would  be 
common  at  all  times.  The  taunt  would  be  easily 
met  if  the  Christian  could  make  answer  that  this 
world  is  a  scene  of  probation  where  God  in  His 
infinite  wisdom  has  thought  fit  to  leave  men 
absolutely  to  themselves.  But  in  presence  of  an 
open  Bible  such  an  answer  is  impossible.  The 
mystery  remains  that  "  God,  who  at  sundry  times 
and  in  divers  manners  spake  in  time  past  unto  the 
fathers,"  never  speaks  to  His  people  now !  The 
Divine  history  of  the  favoured  race  for  thousands 
of  years  teems  with  miracles  by  which  God  gave 
proof  of  His  power  with  men,  and  yet  we  are 
confronted  by  the  astounding  fact  that  from  the 
days  of  the  apostles  to  the  present  hour  the 
history  of  Christendom  will  be  searched  in  vain 
for  the  record  of  a  single  public  event  to  compel 
belief  that  there  is  a  God  at  all  !  * 

1  See  Appendix,  Note  I. 


CHAPTER   III 

T  N  the  old  time  men  worshipped  false  gods,  as 
they  do  still  in  heathendom  to-day.  Atheism 
is  the  recoil  from  Christianity  rejected.  But  the 
unbelief  of  earnest  men  who  are  willing  to  believe, 
but  cannot,  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  blind 
and  bitter  atheism  of  apostates. 

Nor  will  it  avail  to  plead  that  the  miracles  by 
which  Christianity  was  accredited  at  first  still  live 
as  evidence  of  its  truth.  That  will  not  satisfy  the 
question  here  at  issue,  which  is  not  the  truth  of 
Christianity  but  the  fact  of  a  silent  Heaven.  That  ' 
in  presence  of  the  measureless  ocean  of  human 
suffering  in  the  great  world  around  us,  and  in  spite 
of  the  articulate  cry  so  constantly  wrung  from  the 

hearts  of  His  faithful  people,  God  should  preserve 

19 


20  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

a  silence  which  is  absolute  and  crushing — this  is 
a  mystery  which  Christianity  seems  only  to  render 
more  inscrutable. 

Here,  however,  we  are  assuming  that  miracles 
are  possible,  and  thus  we  shall  incur  the  contempt 
of  all  persons  of  superior  enlightenment.  But  we 
can  brook  their  sneers.  Nor  will  they  betray  us 
into  the  folly  of  turning  aside  to  enter  upon  the 
great  miracle  controversy,  save  in  so  far  as  the 
subject  in  hand  requires  it.  Open  infidelity  has 
made  no  advance  upon  the  arguments  of  Hume. 
Indeed  the  phenomenal  triumphs  of  modern 
science  have  only  served  to  weaken  the  infidel's 
position,  for  they  have  discredited  the  theory  that 
new  discoveries  in  nature  might  yet  account  for 
•  the  miracles  of  Scripture.  The  only  thing  distinc- 
tive about  the  infidelity  of  our  own  times  is  that  it 
has  assumed  the  dress  and  language  of  religion. 
Among  its  teachers  are  "  Doctors  of  Divinity"  and 
Professors  in  Christian  universities  and  colleges. 
And  as  the  disciples  and  admirers  of  these  men 
claim  for  them  superior  intelligence  and  special 
vigour  of  mental  perception,  an  examination  of 
these  pretensions  may  not  be  inopportune.  But 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  21 

vivisection  is  to  be  deprecated,  and  mere  abstract 
statements  carry  little  weight.  How,  then,  are  we 
to  proceed  ?  An  Oxford  Professor  of  the  past 
generation  will  do  as  the  corpus  vile  for  the 
inquiry.  Let  us  turn  to  the  treatise  upon  "  The 
Evidences  of  Christianity"  in  the  notorious  "  Essays 
and  Reviews."  Its  thesis  may  be  stated  in  a  single 
sentence — That  the  reign  of  law  is  absolute  and 
universal.  From  this  it  follows  of  course  (i)  that 
a  miracle  is  an  impossibility,  and  (2)  that  Holy 
Scripture  is  altogether  unreliable.  Inspiration, 
therefore,  is  out  of  the  question,  save  as  all  good- 
ness and  genius  are  inspired. 

It  may  seem  feeble  to  turn  back  now  to  the 
"  Essays  and  Reviews,"  but  the  last  forty  years  have 
made  no  change  in  the  German  Rationalism  which 
that  epoch-making  book  first  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  average  Englishman.  These  views  are 
being  taught  to-day  in  many  of  our  schools  of 
theology.  The  future  occupants  of  so  -  called 
Christian  pulpits  are  being  taught  that  the  miracu- 
lous in  Scripture  must  be  rejected,  and  that  the 
Bible  must  be  read  like  any  other  book. 

Now  what  concerns  us  here  is  not  whether  this 


22  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

teaching  is  true  :  let  us  assume  its  truth.  Nor  yet 
whether  the  teachers  be  honest  :  we  assume  their 
integrity.  But  what  can  be  said  for  their  intelli- 
gence ?  Any  dullard  can  trade  upon  the  labours 
of  others.  The  most  commonplace  of  men  can 
understand  and  adopt  the  tenets  of  the  rationalists. 
Where  mental  power  will  declare  itself  is  in  the 
capacity  to  review  preconceived  ideas  in  the  light 
of  the  new  tenets.  Let  us  apply  this  test  to  the 
Christian  rationalists.  The  incarnation,  the  resur- 
rection, the  ascension  of  Christ — these  are  incom- 
parably the  greatest  of  all  miracles.  If  we  accept 
them  the  credibility  of  other  miracles  resolves 
itself  entirely  into  a  question  of  evidence.  If  we 
reject  them  the  whole  Christian  system  falls  to 
pieces  like  a  house  of  cards.  To  change  the 
figure,  when  Christianity  is  exposed  to  the  clear 
light  and  air  of  "modern  thought,"  what  seemed  to 
be  a  living  body  crumbles  into  dust.  Yet  these 
men  profess  unfaltering  faith  in  Christianity.  But 
while  their  faith  does  credit  to  their  hearts,  it 
:  proves  the  weakness  of  their  heads.  Those  who 
believe  in  the  Divinity  of  Christ  while  rejecting 
inspiration  and  miracles,  may  pose  as  persons  of 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  23 

superior  enlightenment — in  fact,  they  are  credulous 
creatures  who  would  believe  anything.  Such  faith 
as  theirs  is  the  merest  superstition.  Appeal  might 
here  be  made  to  unnumbered  witnesses  among  the 
scholars  and  thinkers  of  our  time,  who  in  face  of 
this  dilemma  have  found  themselves  compelled  to 
choose  "between  a  deeper  faith  and  a  bolder 
unbelief." 

If  Christ  was  indeed  Divine,  no  person  of 
ordinary  intelligence  will  question  that  He  had 
power  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  the  ears  of 
the  deaf,  the  lips  of  the  dumb.  If  He  had  power 
to  forgive  sins,  it  is  a  small  matter  to  believe  that 
He  had  power  to  heal  diseases.  If  He  could  give 
Eternal  Life  there  is  nothing  to  wonder  at  in  the 
record  that  He  could  restore  natural  life.  And  if 
He  is  now  upon  the  throne  of  God,  and  all  power 
in  heaven  and  earth  is  His,  every  man  of  common 
sense  will  brush  aside  all  sophistries  and  quibbles 
about  causation  and  natural  laws,  and  will  recog- 
nise that  our  Divine  Lord  could  do  for  men  to-day 
all  He  did  for  them  in  the  days  of  His  ministry  on 
earth. 

But  how  is  it  that  He  does  not  ?     I  know  that  if 


24  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

in  the  days  of  His  humiliation  this  poor  crippled 
child  had  been  brought  into  His  presence  He 
would  have  healed  it.  And  I  am  assured  that  His 
power  is  greater  now  than  when  He  sojourned 
upon  earth,  and  that  He  is  still  as  near  to  us  as 
He  then  was.  But  when  I  bring  this  to  a  practical 
test,  it  fails.  Whatever  the  reason,  it  does  not 
seem  true.  This  poor  afflicted  child  must  remain  a 
cripple.  I  dare  not  say  He  cannot  heal  my  child, 
but  it  is  clear  He  will  not.  And  why  will  He  not? 
How  is  this  mystery  to  be  explained  ?  The  plain 
fact  is  that  with  all  who  believe  the  Bible  the  great 
difficulty  respecting  miracles  is  not  their  occurrence 
but  their  absence. 

In  his  "  Foundations  of  Belief,"  Mr.  Balfour 
reproduces  the  suggestion  that  if  the  special  cir- 
cumstances in  which  a  miracle  was  wrought  were 
again  to  recur,  the  miracle  would  recur  also.  But 
even  if  the  truth  of  this  could  be  ascertained,  it 
would  have  no  bearing  on  the  present  problem. 
Miracles,  Mr.  Balfour  avers,  are  "  wonders  due  to 
the  special  action  of  Divine  power."  As  then  we 
have  to  do  neither  with  a  mere  machine  nor  with  a 
monster,  but  with  a  personal  God  who  is  infinite 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  25 

in  wisdom  and  power  and  love,  how  is  it  that  in  a 
world  which,  pace  the  philosopher,  cries  aloud  for 
that  "  special  action,"  we  look  for  it  in  vain  ? 

In  his  "  Studies  Subsidiary  to  the  Works  of 
Bishop  Butler,"  Mr.  Gladstone  speaks  in  the  same 
sense,  but  still  more  definitely.  In  his  discussion 
of  Hume's  dictum,  that  miracles  are  impossible 
because  they  imply  the  violation  of  natural  laws, 
he  says  :  "  Now,  unless  we  know  all  the  laws  of 
nature,  Hume's  contention  is  of  no  avail;  for  the 
alleged  miracle  may  come  under  some  law  not  yet 
known  to  us."  But  surely  this  admission  is  fatal. 
The  evidential  value  of  miracles,  against  which 
Hume  is  arguing,  depends  on  the  assumption  that 
they  are  due,  as  Mr.  Balfour  says,  to  "  the  special 
action  of  Divine  power,"  and  that  but  for  such 
action  they  would  not  have  occurred.  That  is  to 
say,  it  is  essential  that  the  act  or  event  represented 
as  miraculous  should  be  supernatural.  If,  there- 
fore, the  "  alleged  "  miracle  can  be  brought  within 
the  sphere  of  the  natural^  it  is  thereby  shown  not "  c 
be  a  real  miracle.  In  other  words,  it  is  not  a 
miracle  at  all. 

If  a  miracle  were  indeed  a  violation  of  the  laws 


26  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

of  nature,  not  a  few  of  us  who  believe  in  miracles 
would  renounce  our  faith.  For  then  the  word 
"  impossible  "  would  be  transferred  to  the  sphere 
in  which  it  is  rightly  predicted  of  acts  attributable 
to  the  Almighty.  "It  is,"  we  declare,  "impossible 
for  God  to  lie  " :  it  is  equally  impossible  for  Him 
to  violate  His  own  laws;  He  "cannot  deny  Him- 
self." But  this  vaunted  dictum  owes  its  seeming 
force  solely  to  confounding  what  is  above  nature 
with  what  is  against  nature.  Beyond  this  it  is 
nothing  but  a  cloak  for  ignorance. 

Here  is  a  stone  upon  the  road.  In  obedience  to 
unchanging  law  it  lies  there  inert  and  tends  to  sink 
into  the  ground.  Were  it  to  rise  from  the  earth 
and  fly  upward  toward  the  sky,  it  would,  you  say, 
be  indeed  a  miracle.  But  this  you  know  is  abso- 
lutely impossible.  Impossible  !  A  rude  boy  who 
comes  along  snatches  it  from  us  and  flings  it 
into  the  air.  This  mischievous  urchin  has  thus 
achieved  what  you  declared  to  be  impossible ! 
"  But,"  you  exclaim,  "  this  is  mere  trifling,  we  saw 
the  boy  throw  it  up  ! "  Is  it  by  our  senses,  then, 
that  the  limits  of  possibility  are  to  be  fixed  ? 
This  is  materialism  with  a  vengeance !  Suppose 


THE    SILENCE    OF   GOD  27 

the  boy  himself  should  fall  over  a  precipice,  and 
you  grasped  him  and  drew  him  up  again  to  safety, 
would  this  be  a  violation  of  the  law  of  gravitation  ? 
Why,  then,  should  it  be  such  if  his  rescue  were 
achieved  by  some  unseen  hand  ?  A  miracle  it 
would  be,  no  doubt,  but  not  "  a  violation  of  the 
laws  of  nature."  As  Dean  Mansel  expresses  it,  a 
miracle  is  merely  "the  introduction  of  a  new  agent, 
possessing  new  powers,  and  therefore  not  included 
under  the  rules  generalised  from  a  previous 
experience." 

But  some  thoughtless  person  may  still  object 
that  matter  can  be  put  in  motion  only  by  matter, 
and  that  to  talk  of  a  stone  being  raised  by  an 
unseen  hand  is  therefore  absurd.  Indeed  !  Will 
the  objector  tell  us  how  it  is  he  puts  his  own  body 
in  motion  ?  The  power  of  something  that  is  not 
matter  over  matter  is  one  of  the  commonest  facts 
of  life.  The  Apostle  Peter  walked  upon  the  sea. 
u  Nonsense,"  the  infidel  exclaims,  with  a  toss  of  his 
head,  "  that  would  be  a  violation  of  natural  laws !  " 
And  yet  the  phenomenon  may  have  been  as 
simple  as  that  produced  when  he  himself  shakes 
his  head  !  It  is  possible,  moreover,  that  the  laws 


28  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

may  yet  be  explained  under  which  the  miracles 
were  performed.1  Nor  would  they  cease  to  be 
miracles  if  those  laws  were  known  ;  for  the  test  of 
a  miracle  is  not  that  it  should  be  inexplicable,  but 
that  it  should  be  beyond  human  power  to  accom- 
plish it.  Whether  or  not  the  power  in  exercise 
be  Divine  is  matter  of  evidence  or  inference ;  but 
once  the  presence  of  Divine  power  is  ascertained, 
a  miracle,  regarded  as  a  fact,  is  accounted  for. 

If  a  surgeon  restores  sight  to  a  blind  man,  or  a 
physician  rescues  a  fever  patient  from  death,  the 
fact  excites  no  other  emotion  than  our  gratitude. 
But  when  we  are  told  that  such  cures  have  been 
achieved  by  Divine  power  without  the  use  of 
medicine  or  the  knife,  we  are  called  upon  to  refuse 

1  This  possibly  may  be  what  Mr.  Gladstone  means  in  the  state- 
ment criticised  at  p.  25  ante.  But  if  so,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  under- 
stand either  his  language  or  his  argument.  He  seems  to  suggest 
that  the  "alleged"  miracles  may  yet  be  explained  to  us,  just  as 
the  predicted  eclipse  of  the  moon  which  terrified  the  South  Sea 
Islanders  might  afterwards  have  been  explained  to  the  savages.  My 
own  meaning  an  illustration  may  make  plain.  That  fire  should 
come  down  from  the  sky  and  kindle  a  pile  of  wood  is  a  common- 
place phenomenon.  It  might  occur  during  any  thunderstorm. 
But  if  I  heap  wood  together  upon  a  certain  spot,  and  at  my  word 
lightning  falls  upon  it  and  consumes  it,  this  is  a  miracle  ;  and  the 
element  of  the  miraculous  is  in  the  fact  that  I  have  set  in  motion 
'  some  power  that  is  above  nature  and  competent  to  control  it. 


THE   SILENCE   OF    GOD  29 

even  to  examine  the  evidence.     The  plain  fact  is  . 
that  men  do  not  believe  in  "  Divine  power,"  or  the  ' 
"  unseen  hand."     Disguise  it  as  we  will  this  is  the 
real  point  of  the  controversy.     In  the  case  of  every 
human  being,  "  special  action  "  is  a  duty  if  thereby 
he  can   relieve  suffering  or  avert  disaster,  but  in 
the   case   of  the    Divine    Being   it   is   not   to   be 
expected   or  indeed  tolerated  !     It  is  accepted  as 
an  axiom  that  Almighty  God  must  be  a  cipher  in 
His  own  world ! 

The  doctrinaire  infidel  rejects  Christianity  on 
the  ground  that  the  only  evidence  of  its  truth  is 
the  miracles  by  which  it  was  accredited  at  the  first, 
and  that  miracles  are  impossible — propositions/ 
both  of  which  are  untenable.  The  ordinary 
infidel,  on  the  other  hand,  bringing  practical 
intelligence  and  common  sense  to  bear  upon  the 
question,  rejects  Christianity  because,  he  argues,  if 
the  Christian's  God  were  not  a  myth  He  would 
not  remain  passive  in  presence  of  all  the  suffering 
and  wrong  which  prevail  in  the  world.  That  is  to 
say,  discarding  the  contention  of  the  doctrinaire 
philosopher  that  miracles  are  impossible,  he  main- 
tains that  if  there  really  existed  a  Supreme  Being 


30  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

of  infinite  goodness  and  power,  miracles  would 
abound.  And  the  vast  majority  of  infidels  belong 
to  this  second  category.  But  though  the  philoso- 
phers are  few,  and  their  sophistries  have  failed  to 
take  hold  of  the  minds  of  common  men,  they  have 
well-nigh  monopolised  the  attention  of  Christian 
apologists.  Common  men,  moreover,  unlike  the 
philosophers,  are  apt  to  be  both  fair  and  earnest, 
and  ready  to  consider  any  reasonable  explanation 
of  their  difficulties.  But  the  answer  offered  them 
is  for  the  most  part  either  futile  or  inadequate. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  for  instance,  falls  back  upon 
the  plea  that  "  if  the  experience  of  miracles  were 
universal,  they  would  cease  to  be  miracles."  But 
what  possible  ground  is  there  for  this?  They 
would  cease  to  excite  wonder,  no  doubt ;  but  that 
is  no  test  of  the  miraculous.  In  the  beginning  of 
our  Lord's  ministry,  and  before  the  antipathy  of 
the  religious  leaders  of  the  Jews  took  shape  in 
plots  for  His  destruction,  His  miracles  of  healing 
were  so  numerous  and  so  free  to  all,  that  they 
must  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  matters  of 
course.  He  "went  about,"  we  read,  "  in  all  Galilee, 
healing  all  manner  of  disease  and  all  manner  of 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  31 

sickness  among  the  people.  And  the  report  of 
Him  went  forth  into  all  Syria,  and  they  brought 
unto  Him  ALL  that  were  sick,  holden  with 
divers  diseases  and  torments,  possessed  with 
devils,  and  epileptic,  and  palsied  :  and  He  healed 
them."  *  In  presence  of  such  an  unlimited  display 
of  miraculous  power  all  sense  of  wonder  must  have 
soon  died  out.  But  yet  every  fresh  cure  was  a 
fresh  miracle,  and  would  have  been  recognised 
as  such. 

And  so  would  it  be  in  our  own  day,  if,  for 
example,  whenever  a  wicked  man  committed  an 
outrage  upon  his  neighbour,  Divine  power  inter- 
vened to  strike  down  the  offender  and  protect  his 
victim,  the  event  would  cease  to  excite  the  least 
surprise.  But  all  would  none  the  less  recognise 
the  hand  of  God,  and  own  His  justice  and 
goodness.  And  there  would  be  no  infidels  left — 
except,  of  course,  the  philosophers  ! 

The  difficulty  therefore  remains  unsolved.  The 
true  explanation  of  it  will  be  considered  in  the 
sequel  ;  but  at  this  stage  the  discussion  of  it  is  a 
mere  digression.  So  far  as  the  present  argument 

1  Matt.  iv.  23,  24  (R.V.). 


32  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

is  concerned  the  matter  may  be  summed  up  in 
borrowed  words :  "  The  Scripture  miracles  stand 
on  a  solid  basis  which  no  reasoning  can  overthrow. 
Their  possibility  cannot  be  denied  without  denying 
the  very  nature  of  God  as  an  all-powerful  Being  ; 
their  probability  cannot  be  questioned  without 
questioning  His  moral  perfections  ;  and  their  cer- 
tainty as  matters  of  fact  can  only  be  invalidated 
by  destroying  the  very  foundations  of  all  human 
testimony."  J 

1  Bishop  Van  Mildert's  "  Boyle  Lectures,"  sermon  xxi.  Of  the 
truth  of  these  last  words  Hume's  celebrated  treatise  supplies  most 
striking  proof.  He  takes  exception  to  the  evidence  for  the  Chris- 
tian miracles ;  but  when  he  goes  on  to  speak  of  certain  miracles 
alleged  to  have  occurred  in  France  upon  the  tomb  of  Abbe  Paris, 
the  famous  Jansenist,  he  admits  that  the  evidence  in  support  of 
them  was  clear,  complete,  and  without  a  flaw.  But  yet  he  rejects 
(  them,  and  that  solely  because  of  "  the  absolute  impossibility,  or 
miraculous  nature  of  the  events  "  !  It  behoves  us  to  regard  such 
evidence  with  suspicion  ;  but  to  accept  the  evidence  and  yet  to 
reject  the  facts  thus  established,  is  indeed  "  to  destroy  the  very 
foundations  of  all  human  testimony." 


CHAPTER  IV 

r  I  ^HAT  Paley  and  those  who  follow  him  have 
mistaken  and  misstated  the  evidential  value 
of  the  miracles  of  Christ  may  seem  to  some  a 
startling  proposition  ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  a 
novel  one.  To  this  error,  moreover,  it  is  that  the 
argument  against  miracles  in  John  Stuart  Mill's 
"  Essays  on  Religion"  owes  its  seeming  cogency. 

The  unbelief  of  the  Christianised  sceptic  com- 
pares unfavourably  with  the  agnosticism  of  the 
honest  infidel.  The  one  in  rejecting  miracles 
destroys  the  authenticity  of  the  Gospels,  and  thus 
recklessly  undermines  the  foundations  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  object  of  the  other  is  a  defence  of 
human  reason  against  supposed  encroachments 
upon  its  authority.  The  one  trades  in  sophistries 

4  33 


34  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

which  have  been  again  and  again  refuted  and 
exposed.  The  other  propounds  arguments  which 
have  never  yet  been  adequately  answered.  The 
pseudo-Christian  practically  joins  hands  with  the 
atheist ;  for  no  amount  of  special  pleading  will 
avail  to  silence  Paley's  challenge,  "  Once  believe 
there  is  a  God,  and  miracles  are  not  incredible." 
The  avowed  agnostic  seizes  upon  Paley's  gratuitous 
assertion  that  a  revelation  can  only  be  made  by 
miracles,  and  he  sets  himself  to  prove  that  miracles 
are  wholly  invalid  for  such  a  purpose. 

Among  English  men  of  letters  Mill's  position  is 
almost  unique.  From  the  account  of  his  childhood 
in  that  saddest  of  books,  his  "Autobiography,"  it 
would  appear  that  he  approached  the  study  of 
Christianity  from  the  standpoint  of  a  cultured 
pagan.  He  was  wholly  unconscious,  therefore,  that 
his  argument  against  the  theologian's  position  was 
entirely  in  accord  with  the  teaching  of  Scripture. 
"  A  revelation  cannot  be  proved  Divine  unless  by 
external  evidence  "  :  such  is  his  mode  of  restating 
Paley's  thesis.  And  the  problem  this  involves  may 
be  explained  by  the  following  illustration. 

A  stranger  appears,  say  in  London,  the  metropolis 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  35 

of  the  world,  claiming  to  be  the  bearer  of  a  Divine 
revelation  to  mankind,  and  in  order  to  accredit  his 
message  he  proceeds  to  display  miraculous  power. 
Let  us  assume  for  the  moment  that  after  the 
strictest  inquiry  the  reality  of  the  miracles  is 
established  and  that  all  are  agreed  as  to  their 
genuineness.  Here,  then,  we  are  face  to  face  with 
the  question  in  the  most  practical  way.  If  the 
"  Christian  argument "  be  sound  we  are  bound  to 
accept  whatever  gospel  this  prophet  proclaims. 
And  no  one  who  knows  anything  of  human  nature 
will  doubt  that  it  would  be  generally  received. 
The  Christian,  however,  would  be  kept  back  by 
the  words  of  the  inspired  apostle  :  "  But  though 
we  or  an  angel  from  heaven  should  preach  unto  you 
any  gospel  other  than  that  which  we  preached  unto 
you,  let  him  be  anathema."  I  In  a  word,  the  Chris- 
tian would  at  once  give  up  his  "Paley"  and  fall 
back  upon  the  position  of  the  sceptic  in  the 
"Essays  on  Religion"!  He  would  insist,  moreover, 
on  bringing  the  new  miracle-accredited  gospel  to 
the  test  of  Holy  Writ,  and  finding  it  inconsistent 
with  the  gospel  he  had  already  received,  he  would 

1  Gal.  i.  8  (R.V.). 


36  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

reject  it.  That  is  to  say,  he  would  test  the 
message,  not  by  the  miracles,  but  by  a  preceding 
revelation  known  to  be  Divine. 

That  Christ  came  to  found  a  new  religion,  and 
that  Christianity  was  received  in  the  world  on  the 
authority  of  miracles — these  are  theses  which  com- 
mand almost  universal  acceptance  in  Christendom. 
It  may  seem  startling  to  maintain  that  both  are 
alike  erroneous,  and  that  the  Christian  position  has 
been  seriously  prejudiced  by  the  error.  And  yet 
this  is  the  conclusion  which  the  preceding  argu- 
ment suggests,  and  to  which  full  and  careful 
inquiry  will  lead  us.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  those  in 
whose  midst  the  miracles  of  Christ  were  wrought 
were  the  very  people  who  crucified  Him  as  a 
profane  impostor?  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when 
challenged  to  work  miracles  in  support  of  His 
Messianic  claims  He  peremptorily  refused  ? J 

"  However,"  says  Bishop  Butler,  in  summing  up 
his  argument  on  this  subject,  "  the  fact  is  allowed 
that  Christianity  was  professed  to  be  received  into 
the  world  upon  the  belief  of  miracles,"  and  "  that 
is  what  the  first  converts  would  have  alleged  as 

1  Matt.  xii.  38,  39,  xvi.  1-4. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  37 

their  reason  for  embracing  it."  Language  cannot 
be  plainer.  The  "  first  converts,"  having  witnessed 
the  miracles,  reasoned  out  the  matter,  and  con- 
cluded that  he  who  wrought  them  must  be  sent  of 
God  ;  and  thus  became  converts.  But  where  is  ' 
the  authority  for  such  a  statement  ?  As  a  matter 
of  fact  not  one  of  the  disciples  is  reported  to  have 
attributed  his  faith  to  that  ground.1  The  narra- 
tive of  the  first  Passover  of  the  ministry,  which 
may  seem  at  first  sight  to  refute  this,  is  in  fact 
the  clearest  proof  of  it.  Here  are  the  words : 
"  Many  believed  on  His  name,  beholding  His 
signs  which  He  did.  But  Jesus  did  not  trust 
Himself  unto  them,  for  that  He  knew  all  men."  2 
That  is  to  say,  He  refused  to  recognise  any  such 
discipleship. 

Then  follows  the  story  of  Nicodemus,  who  was 
one  of  the  number  of  these  miracle-made  converts. 
He  had  reasoned  himself  into  discipleship,  pre- 
cisely as  Butler  supposes  ;  but,  as  Dean  Alford 
expresses  it,3  he  had  to  be  taught  that  "  it  is  not 

1  If  any  should   quote  the  case  of  Simon  Magus  as  an  excep- 
tion, they  are  welcome  to  their  argument ! 

2  John  ii.  23,  24  (R.V.).  3  Greek  Test.  Com.,  John  iii. 


38  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

learning  that  is  needed  for  the  kingdom,  but  life, 
and  life  must  begin  by  birth."  Such  is  throughout 
the  testimony  of  St.  John.  Entirely  in  harmony 
with  it  is  the  testimony  of  St.  Peter,  who  shared 
with  him  the  special  privilege  of  witnessing  that 
greatest  of  the  miracles,  the  Transfiguration  on 
the  Holy  Mount.  "  Being  born  again  (he  writes), 
not  of  corruptible  seed  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the 
Word  of  God."* 

Still  more  striking  and  significant  is  the  case 
of  St.  Paul.  As  great  a  reasoner  as  Butler,  and 
moreover  a  man  of  unswerving  devotion  to  what 
he  deemed  to  be  the  truth,  the  completed  testimony 
of  the  ministry  and  miracles  of  Christ  left  him  a 
bitter  opponent  and  persecutor  of  Christianity.  "  I 
obtained  mercy"  is  his  own  explanation  of  the 
change  which  took  place  in  him.  And  again, 
"It  pleased  God,  who  .  .  .  called  me  by  His  grace, 
to  reveal  His  Son  in  me."  Some  may  call  such 
language  mystical.  To  others,  who  are  them- 
selves what  St.  Paul  till  then  had  been,  it  may 

1  i  Pet.  i.  23.  Still  more  definite  are  the  Lord's  words  addressed 
to  Peter  in  response  to  the  confession  of  His  Messiahship,  "  Blessed 
art  thou,  Simon  Bar- Jonah  ;  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed 
it  unto  thee,  but  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven"  (Matt.  xvi.  17). 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  39 

even  seem  offensive.  But  whatever  its  meaning, 
and  however  regarded,  certain  it  is  that  it  implies 
something  wholly  different  from  what  Bishop 
Butler's  words  would  indicate.1 

But  if  the  miracles  were  not  intended  to  be  a 
ground  of  faith  in  Christ,  why,  it  will  be  asked, 
were  they  given  at  all?  They  had  a  twofold 
character  and  purpose.  Just  as  a  good  man  who 
is  possessed  of  the  means  and  the  opportunity 
to  relieve  suffering  is  impelled  to  action  by  his 
very  nature,  so  was  it  with  our  blessed  Lord. 
When  "  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  tabernacled 
among  us,"  it  was,  if  we  may  so  speak  with 
reverence,  a  matter  of  course  that  sickness  and 
pain  and  even  death  should  give  way  before  Him. 
He  "  went  about  doing  good  and  healing  all  that 
were  oppressed  of  the  devil  because  God  was  with 
Him''  The  sceptics  talk  as  though  our  Lord 
were  represented  as  stopping  in  His  teaching  at 
intervals  in  order  to  work  some  miracle  to  silence 
unbelief.  The  idea  is  absolutely  grotesque  in  its 


1  St.  Paul's  testimony  gains  in  emphasis  because  of  the  vision  on 
the  Damascus  road  which,  but  for  his  explicit  words,  might  lead  us 
to  call  him  a  miracle-made  disciple. 


40  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

falseness.  On  the  contrary  we  read  such  state- 
ments as  this,  that  "  He  did  not  many  mighty 
works  because  of  their  unbelief."  I  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  while  there  is  not  recorded  a  single 
instance  in  the  whole  course  of  His  ministry 
where  faith  appealed  to  Him  in  vain — and  this 
it  is  which  makes  the  inexorable  reign  of  law 
to-day  so  strange  and  overwhelming — neither  is 
there  recorded  a  solitary  instance  where  the 
challenge  of  unbelief  was  rewarded  by  a  miracle. 
Every  challenge  of  the  kind  was  met  by  referring 
the  caviller  to  the  Scriptures. 

And  this  suggests  the  second  great  purpose 
for  which  the  miracles  were  given.  With  the 
Jew  politics  and  religion  were  inseparable.  Every 
hope  of  spiritual  blessing  rested  on  the  coming 
of  Messiah.  With  that  advent  was  connected 
every  promise  of  national  independence  and 
prosperity.  The  pious  few  who  constituted  the 
little  band  of  His  true  disciples  thought  first  and 
most  of  the  spiritual  aspect  of  His  mission.  The 
multitude  thought  only  of  deliverance  from  the 
Roman  yoke,  and  the  restoration  of  the  bygone 

1  Matt.  xiii.  58. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  41 

glories  of  their  kingdom.  In  the  case  of  all  alike 
His  chief  credentials  were  to  be  sought  in  the 
Scriptures  which  foretold  His  coming,  and  to 
these  it  was  that  His  ultimate  appeal  was  always 
made.  "Ye  are  searching  the  Scriptures,"  He 
said  to  the  Jews,  "  and  these  are  they  which  bear 
witness  of  Me,  and  ye  will  not  come  to  Me." z 
"  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets  neither 
will  they  be  persuaded  though  one  rose  from  the 
dead."  2 

In  this  respect  the  evidence  of  the  miracles  was 
purely  incidental.  It  is  nowhere  suggested  that 
they  were  given  to  accredit  the  teaching ;  their 
evidential  purpose  was  solely  and  altogether  to 
accredit  the  Teacher.  It  was  not  merely  that  they 
were  miracles,  but  that  they  were  such  miracles 
as  the  Jews  were  led  by  their  Scriptures  to 
expect.  Their  significance  depended  on  their 
special  character^  and  their  relation  to  a  pre- 
ceding revelation  accepted  as  Divine  by  those  for 
whose  benefit  they  were  accomplished. 


1  John  v.  39,  40  (R.V.).  2  Luke  xvi.  31. 

3  Very  strikingly  is  this  exemplified  in  John  the  Baptist's  case 
(Matt.  xi.  2-5  ;  see  also  John  v.  36). 


42  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

And  this  suggests,  it  may  be  remarked  in  pass- 
ing, another  flaw  in  the  Christian  argument  from 
miracles,  as  usually  stated.  What  is  supernatural 
is  not  of  necessity  Divine.  "  Every  one  who  works 
miracles  is  sent  of  God  :  this  man  works  miracles, 
therefore  He  is  sent  of  God."  The  logic  of  the 
syllogism  is  perfect.  But  the  Jew  would  rightly 
repudiate  the  major  premises,  and  of  course  reject 
the  conclusion.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  attributed 
the  miracles  of  Christ  to  Satan,  and  our  Lord  met 
the  taunt,  not  by  denying  Satanic  power,  but  by 
appealing  to  the  nature  and  purpose  of  His  acts. 
As  they  were  manifestly  aimed  against  the  arch- 
enemy, they  could  not,  he  urged,  be  assigned  to 
his  agency. 

The  subordination' of  the  testimony  of  miracles 
to  that  of  Scripture  appears  more  plainly  still 
in  the  teaching  after  the  resurrection.  "  Beginning 
(we  read)  at  Moses  and  all  the  prophets  He  ex- 
pounded unto  them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things 
concerning  Himself."  And  again,  "These  are  the 
words  which  I  spake  unto  you  while  I  was  yet 
with  you,  that  all  things  must  be  fulfilled  which 
were  written  in  the  law  of  Moses  and  in  the  pro- 


THE   SILENCE    OF    GOD  43 

phets  and  in  the  Psalms  concerning  Me."  J  Nor 
was  it  otherwise  when  the  apostles  took  up 
the  testimony.  St.  Peter's  appeal,  addressed  to 
the  Jews  of  Jerusalem,  was  to  "all  the  prophets, 
from  Samuel  and  those  that  follow  after,  as  many 
as  have  spoken."2  Such  also  was  St.  Paul's 
defence  when  arraigned  before  Agrippa :  "  I  con- 
tinue unto  this  day  (he  declared)  witnessing  both 
to  small  and  great,  saying  none  other  things  than 
those  which  the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say  should 
come."  3  And  when  we  turn  to  the  dogmatic 
teaching  of  the  Epistles  we  have  the  same  truth 
still  more  explicitly  enforced,  that  Christ  "  was  a 
minister  of  the  circumcision  for  the  truth  of  God, 
to  confirm  the  promises  made  unto  the  fathers, 
and  that  the  Gentiles  might  glorify  God  for  His 
mercy,  as  it  is  written" 4 

Page  after  page  might  thus  be  filled  to  prove 
the  falseness  of  the  dictum  here  under  discussion. 
"  A  new  religion  !  "  It  would  be  nearer  the  truth 

1  Luke  xxiv.  27,  44.     This  threefold  division  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  the  one  commonly  adopted  by  the  Jew — the  law,   the 
prophets,  and  the  "  Hagiographa."     The  Psalms  stood  first  in  the 
third  division,  and  thus  came  to  give  its  name  to  the  whole- 

2  Acts  iii.  24.  3  Acts  xxvi.  22.  4  Rom.  xv.  8,  9. 


44  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

to  declare  that  one  great  purpose  of  Messiah's 
advent  was  to  put  an  end  to  the  reign  of  religion 
altogether.  Such  a  statement  would  be  entirely 
in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  only  passage  in 
the  New  Testament  where  the  word  occurs  in 
relation  to  the  Christian  life.1  Christ  was  Himself 
the  reality  of  every  type,  the  substance  of  every 
shadow,  the  fulfilment  of  every  promise  of  the  old 
religion.  Whether  we  speak  of  the  altar  or  the 
sacrifice,  the  priest  or  the  temple  in  which  He 
ministered,  Christ  was  the  antitype  of  all.  His 
purpose  was  not  to  set  these  aside  that  He  might 
set  up  others  in  their  place — He  came,  not  to 
destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets,  but  to  fulfil 
them.  The  very  details  of  that  elaborate  ritual, 
the  very  furniture  of  that  gorgeous  shrine  which 
was  the  scene  and  centre  of  the  national  worship, 
all  pointed  to  Him.  The  ark  of  the  covenant, 
the  mercy-seat  which  covered  it,  the  most  holy 
place  itself,  and  the  veil  which  shut  it  in — all  were 
but  types  of  Him.  The  several  altars  and  the 
many  sacrifices  bore  witness  to  His  infinite  per- 
fections and  the  varied  aspects  of  His  death  as 

1  James  i.  27. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  45 

bringing  glory  to  God  and  full  redemption  to 
mankind.  In  plain  truth,  the  attempt  to  set  up 
a  religion  now,  in  the  sense  in  which  Judaism  was 
a  religion,  is  to  deny  Christianity  and  to  apostatise 
from  Christ.1 

In  the  light  of  this  truth  the  force  of  the 
sceptic's  argument  is  wholly  dissipated.  When 
the  Nazarene  appeared,  the  question  with  the 
Jew  was  not  whether,  like  another  John  the 
Baptist,  He  was  "  a  man  sent  of  God,"  but  whether 
He  was  the  Sent  One,  the  Messiah  to  whom  all 
their  religion  pointed  and  all  their  Scriptures  bore 
testimony.  "  We  have  found  the  Messiah  :  "  "  We 
have  found  Him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and 
the  prophets,  did  write."2  Such  were  the  words 
in  which  His  disciples  gave  expression  to  their 
faith,  and  by  which  they  sought  to  draw  others 
to  Him.  The  question,  then,  is  not  whether  a 
revelation  can  be  accredited  by  external  evidence, 
but  whether  such  evidence  can  avail  to  accredit 
a  person  whose  coming  has  been  foretold.  And 
this  no  accurate  thinker  would  for  a  moment 
dispute. 

1  As  regards  the  use  of  the  word  "  Religion,"   see  Appendix, 
Note  II.  2  John  i.  41,  45. 


46  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

In  Dean  Swift's  fierce  invective  against  the 
Irish  bishops  of  his  day  he  suggested  that  they 
were  highwaymen  who,  having  waylaid  and  robbed 
the  prelates  appointed  by  the  Crown,  had  entered 
on  their  Sees  in  virtue  of  the  stolen  credentials. 
The  whole  point  of  this  satire  lay  in  the  theo- 
retical possibility  of  the  suggestion.  Nothing  is 
more  difficult  in  certain  circumstances  than  to 
accredit  an  envoy.  But  if  he  be  expected,  the 
merest  trifle  may  suffice.  An  agent  is  sent  upon 
some  mission  of  secrecy  and  danger.  A  mes- 
senger will  follow  later  with  new  and  full  instruc- 
tions for  his  guidance.  The  messenger  is  described 
to  him,  but  his  sense  of  the  peril  of  his  position 
makes  him  plead  that  he  shall  have  adequate 
credentials.  In  response  to  his  appeal  I  pick  up 
a  scrap  of  paper,  tear  it  in  two,  and  handing  him 
the  half  I  tell  him  that  the  other  moiety  will  be 
presented  by  the  envoy.  No  document,  however 
elaborate,  would  give  surer  proof  of  his  identity 
than  would  that  torn  piece  of  paper. 

Thus  we  see  in  what  sense,  and  how  certainly 
and  simply,  "  external  evidence  "  may  avail  "  to 
accredit  a  revelation."  And  the  sceptic's  objection 


THE    SILENCE   OF    GOD  47 

being  set  aside,  he  is  again  confronted  with  the 
irrefutable  force  of  Paley's  argument  upon  the 
main  issue. 

But  another  question  claims  notice  here,  ignored 
alike  by  exponent  and  objector.  They  have  dis- 
cussed the  problem  from  the  purely  human  stand- 
point, whereas  the  revelation  offered  for  our 
acceptance  claims  to  be  Divine.  Man  is  but  a 
creature  ;  can  God  not  speak  to  him  in  such  wise 
that  His  word  shall  carry  with  it  its  own  sanction 
and  authority  ?  To  assert  that  God  cannot  speak 
thus  to  man  is  practically  to  deny  that  He  is  God. 
To  assert  that  He  has  never  in  fact  spoken  thus 
involves  a  transparent  petitio  principii.  It  might 
be  urged  that  the  authenticity  of  prophecy  and 
promise  has  been  established  by  their  fulfilment. 
But  certain  it  is  that  the  prophets  declare  how 
God  did  thus  speak  to  them,  the  Scriptures 
assume  it,  and  the  faith  of  the  Christian  endorses 
it. 


CHAPTER  V 

T  N  the  preceding  chapter  it  has  been  shown 
•*•  that  on  this  question  of  the  evidential  value 
of  miracles  the  infidel  is  right  and  the  Christian 
is  wrong.  It  is  not  true  that  a  revelation 
can  only  be  made  by  miracles.  The  error  of 
Paley's  thesis  can  be  demonstrated  by  argument. 
It  can  be  exemplified  moreover  by  reference  to 
the  case  of  the  Baptist,  who,  though  the  bearer 
of  a  Divine  revelation  of  supreme  importance, 
had  no  miracles  to  appeal  to  in  support  of  it.1 

It  has  been  further  argued  that,  so  far  as 
their  evidential  force  was  concerned,  the  "Christian 
miracles"  were  for  that  favoured  people  "of  whom, 
as  concerning  the  flesh,  Christ  came."  And  if 

1  John  x.  41. 

48 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  49 

this  be  well  founded  we  shall  be  prepared  to 
find  that  so  long  as  the  kingdom  was  being 
preached  to  Jews,  the  miracle  abounded,  but  that 
when  the  gospel  appealed  to  the  heathen  world, 
miracles  lost  their  prominence,  and  soon  entirely 
ceased.  The  question  remains  whether  the  sacred 
record  will  confirm  this  supposition. 

Who  can  fail  to  mark  the  contrast  between 
the  earlier  and  the  later  chapters  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  ?  Measured  by  years  the  period 
they  embrace  is  comparatively  brief;  but  morally 
the  latter  portion  of  the  narrative  seems  to 
belong  to  a  different  age.  And  such  is  in  fact 
the  case.  A  new  dispensation  has  begun,  and  the 
Book  of  the  Acts  covers  historically  the  period 
of  the  transition.  "  To  the  Jew  first "  is  stamped 
on  every  page  of  it.  The  Saviour's  prayer  upon 
the  Cross  *  had  secured  for  the  favoured  nation  a 
respite  from  judgment.  And  the  forgiveness  asked 
for  carried  with  it  a  right  to  priority  in  the  procla- 
mation of  the  great  amnesty.  When  "  the  apostle 
of  the  circumcision,"  by  express  revelation, 
brought  the  gospel  to  Gentiles  they  were  rele- 

1  Luke  xxiii.  34. 

5 


50  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

gated  to  a  position  akin  to  that  formerly  held 
by  the  "  proselytes  of  the  gate." I  And  even 
"  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles "  addressed  himself 
first,  in  every  place  he  visited,  to  the  children  of 
his  own  people.  And  this  not  from  prejudice, 
but  by  Divine  appointment.  "//  was  necessary" 
he  declared  at  Pisidian  Antioch,  "  that  the  word 
of  God  should  first  be  spoken  to  you."2  Even 
at  Rome,  deeply  though  he  longed  to  visit  the 
Christians  there, 3  his  first  care  was  to  summon 
"  the  chief  of  the  Jews,"  and  to  them  "  he  testified 
the  kingdom  of  God."  And  not  until  the  testi- 
mony had  been  rejected  by  the  favoured  people 
did  the  word  go  forth,  "  The  salvation  of  God  is 
sent  unto  the  Gentiles,  and  they  will  hear  it."  4 

But,  it  will  be  objected,  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  had  been  already  written.  True ;  but 
this  only  makes  the  narrative  of  the  Acts  still 
more  significant.  Those  who  profess  to  account 
for  the  Bible  on  natural  principles  seem  ignorant 
of  some  of  the  main  facts  of  the  problem  they 

1  Acts  x.     This  is  made  still  more  clear  by  chap.  xv.  2. 

8  Acts  xiii.  46  (R.V.)  ;  cf.  xvii.  2,  10,  xviii.  1-4. 

3  Rom.  i.  II.  4  Acts  xxviii.  17,  23,  28. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  51 

pretend  to  solve.  They  give  no  explanation  of 
the  omissions  of  Scripture.  Contrast,  for  example, 
the  first  Gospel  with  the  fourth.  The  writers  of 
both  shared  the  same  teaching  and  were  in- 
structed in  the  same  truth.  How  is  it,  then,  that 
Matthew  contains  not  a  single  sentence  which  is 
foreign  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  written 
as  presenting  Israel's  Messiah,  the  "  son  of 
David,  the  son  of  Abraham"?1  How  is  it  that 
John,  which  presents  Him  as  the  Son  of  God, 
omits  even  the  record  of  his  birth,  and  deals 
throughout  with  truth  for  all  scenes  and  all 
time?  And  so  with  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
As  St.  Paul's  companion  and  fellow-labourer,  the 
writer  must  have  been  familiar  with  the  great 
truths  revealed  to  the  Church  in  the  earlier 
Epistles,  but  not  a  trace  of  them  appears  in  his 
treatise.  Written  under  the  Divine  guidance  for 
a  definite  purpose,  nothing  foreign  to  that  pur- 
pose finds  a  place.  To  the  superficial  it  may 
appear  but  a  chance  collection  of  incidents  and 
memoirs,  and  yet,  as  has  been  rightly  .said, 

1  The  prophetic  utterance  of  Matt.  xvi.  18  will  not  be  deemed  an 
exception  to  this. 


52  ,        THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

"there  is  not  a  book  upon  earth  in  which  the 
principle  of  intentional  selection  is  more  evident 
to  a  careful  observer."  J 

The  special  and  distinctive  position  enjoyed 
by  the  Jew  was  a  main  feature  of  the  economy 
then  about  to  close.  "  There  is  no  difference"2  is 
a  canon  of  Christian  doctrine.  Men  talk  of  the 
Divine  history  of  the  human  race,  but  there  is  no 
such  history.  The  Old  Testament  is  the  Divine 
history  of  the  family  of  Abraham.  The  call  of 
Abraham  was  chronologically  the  central  point 
between  the  creation  of  Adam  and  the  Cross 
of  Christ,  and  yet  the  story  of  all  the  ages 
from  Adam  to  Abraham  is  dismissed  in  eleven 
chapters.  And  if  during  the  history  of  Israel 
the  light  of  revelation  rested  for  a  time  upon 
heathen  nations,  it  was  because  the  favoured 
nation  was  temporarily  in  captivity.  But  God 
took  up  the  Hebrew  race  that  they  might  be 
a  centre  and  channel  of  blessing  to  the  world. 
It  was  owing  to  their  pride  that  they  came  to 
regard  themselves  as  the  only  objects  of  Divine 
benevolence. 

1  The  Bampton  Lectures,  1864.  '-'  Rom.  iii.  22, 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  53 

When  some  great  French  wine-grower  appoints 
an  agent  in  this  country,  he  no  longer  supplies 
his  wines  except  through  that  agent.  His  object, 
however,  is  not  to  hinder  but  to  facilitate  the 
sale,  and  to  ensure  that  spurious  wines  shall  not 
be  palmed  off  upon  the  public  in  his  name. 
Akin  to  this  was  the  purpose  with  which  Israel 
was  called  out  in  blessing.  The  knowledge  of 
the  true  God  was  thus  to  be  maintained  on 
earth. I  But  the  Jews  perverted  agency  into  a 
monopoly  of  Divine  favour.  That  temple  which 
was  to  have  been  a  "house  of  prayer  for  all 
nations"2  they  treated  as  though  it  were  not 
God's  house,  but  their  own,  and  ended  by  de- 
grading it  till  it  became  at  last  "  a  den  of  thieves." 
But  the  position  thus  Divinely  accorded  them 
implied  a  priority  in  blessing.  And  this  principle 
pervades  not  only  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures 
but  the  Gospels.  To  us  indeed  it  is  natural  to 
read  the  Gospels  in  the  light  of  the  Epistles, 
and  thus  "  to  read  into  them  "  the  wider  truths 


1  Such  was  the  spirit  of  their   inspired   Scriptures.      See,   e.g., 
2  Chron.  vi.  32,  33  ;  Psa.  Ixvii.  1-3,  &c. 

2  Markxi.  17  (R.V.). 


54  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

of  Christianity.  But  if  the  canon  of  Scripture 
ended  with  the  Gospels  this  would  be  impos- 
sible.1 

Suppose  again  the  Epistles  were  there,  but  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  left  out,  how  startling 
would  appear  the  heading  "  To  the  Romans," 
which  would  confront  us  on  turning  from  the 
study  of  the  Evangelists !  How  could  we  account 
for  the  transition  thus  involved  ?  How  could  we 
explain  the  great  thesis  of  the  Epistle,  that  there 
is  no  difference  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  both 
being  by  nature  on  a  common  level  of  sin  and 
ruin,  both  being  called  in  grace  to  equal  privi- 

1  "If,"  says  the  author  of  "Supernatural  Religion,"  "Chris- 
tianity consist  of  the  doctrines  preached  in  the  Fourth  Gospel,  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  the  Synoptics  do  not  teach  Christianity  at 
all.  The  extraordinary  phenomenon  is  presented  of  three  Gospels, 
each  professing  to  be  complete  in  itself,  and  to  convey  the  good 
tidings  of  salvation  to  man,  which  have  actually  omitted  the 
doctrines  which  are  the  conditions  of  that  salvation."  This  is  a 
fair  specimen  of  the  sort  of  statement  which,  owing  to  prevailing 
ignorance  of  Holy  Scripture,  suffices  to  undermine  the  faith  even  of 
cultured  people  in  our  day.  The  Gospels  were  not  written  "  to 
teach  Christianity,"  but  to  reveal  Christ  in  the  different  aspects  of 
His  person  and  work  as  Israel's  Messiah,  Jehovah's  servant,  Son  of 
Man  and  Son  of  God.  No  one  of  them  is  "  complete  in  itself"  ; 
and  the  Fourth  alone  expressly  professes  to  teach  the  way  of 
salvation  (John  xx.  31). 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  55 

leges  and  glory?  The  earlier  Scriptures  will  be 
searched  in  vain  for  teaching  such  as  this.  Not 
the  Old  Testament  merely  but  even  the  Gospels 
themselves  are  seemingly  separated  from  the 
Epistles  by  a  gulf.  To  bridge  over  that  gulf  is 
the  Divine  purpose  for  which  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  has  been  given  to  the  Church.  The 
earlier  portion  of  the  book  is  the  completion  of 
and  sequel  to  the  Gospels ;  its  concluding  narrative 
is  introductory  to  the  great  revelation  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

But  was  not  the  death  of  Stephen,  recorded  in 
the  seventh  chapter,  the  crisis  of  the  Pentecostal 
testimony  ?  Undoubtedly  it  was  ;  and  thereupon 
"the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles"  received  his  com- 
mission. But  it  was  a  crisis  akin  to  that  which 
marked  the  ministry  of  our  blessed  Lord  Himself 
when  the  Council  at  Jerusalem  decreed  his  de- 
struction. I  From  that  time  He  enjoined  silence 
respecting  His  miracles,2  and  His  teaching  became 
veiled  in  parables.  3  But  though  His  ministry 
entered  upon  this  altered  phase,  it  continued  until 

1  Matt.  xii.  14.  2  Ibid.  xii.  15,  16. 

3  Ibid.  xiii. 


$6  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

His  death.  So  was  it  in  the  record  of  the  Acts. 
Progress  in  revelation,  like  growth  in  nature,  is 
gradual,  and  sometimes  can  be  appreciated  only 
by  its  developments.  The  apostle  to  the  circum- 
cision gives  place  to  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
as  the  central  figure  in  the  narrative,  but  yet  in 
every  place  the  Jew  is  still  accorded  a  priority 
in  the  offer  of  blessing,  and  it  is  not  until,  in 
every  place  from  Jerusalem  round  to  Rome,  that 
blessing  has  been  despised,  that  the  Pentecostal 
dispensation  is  brought  to  a  close  by  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  solemn  decree,  "The  salvation 
of  God  is  sent  unto  the  Gentiles."  * 

The  hopes  excited  in  the  breasts  of  the  dis- 
ciples by  their  Lord's  last  words  of  cheer  and 
promise  were  more  than  realised.  Converts 
flocked  to  them  by  thousands,  and  "  signs  and 
wonders  were  wrought  among  the  people."  And, 
as  already  noticed,  not  only  was  Divine  power  in 
exercise  to  accredit  their  testimony,  but  also  to 
deliver  them  from  outrage,  and  rescue  them  from 
bonds  and  imprisonment.  Nor  was  St.  Paul 
behind  the  rest  in  these  respects.  But  compare 

1  See  Appendix,  Note  III. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  57 

the  record  of  Pentecostal  days  with  the  narrative 
of  his  imprisonment  in  Rome,  and  mark  the 
change !  When  dragged  to  gaol  at  Philippi  as 
a  common  disturber  of  the  peace,  Heaven  came 
down  to  earth  in  answer  to  his  midnight  prayer, 
the  prison  doors  flew  open,  his  gaoler  became  a 
disciple,  and  the  magistrates  who  had  committed 
him,  besought  him,  with  obsequious  words,  to 
comply  with  commands  they  no  longer  dared  to 
enforce.  But  now  he  is  "the  prisoner  of  the 
Lord."  His  bonds  are  known  everywhere  to  be 
for  Christ.1  In  other  words,  there  is  no  side 
issue,  no  incidental  charge,  as  at  Philippi,  to 
conceal  the  true  character  of  the  accusation 
against  him.  It  is  a  public  fact  that  it  is  only 
because  he  is  a  teacher  of  Christianity  that  he 
is  held  in  bonds.  If  the  received  theory  respect- 
ing miracles  be  well  founded,  this  is  the  scene 
and  here  is  the  occasion  for  "  signs  and  wonders 
and  mighty  deeds,"  such  as  he  had  appealed  to 
in  his  earlier  career.2  But  Heaven  is  silent. 
There  is  no  earthquake  now  to  awe  his  per- 
secutors. No  angel  messenger  strikes  off  his 

1  Phil.  i.  13.  2  2  Cor.  xii.  12. 


58  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

chains.  He  stands  alone,  forsaken  of  men,  even 
as  his  Master  was,  and  seemingly  forsaken  of 
God.1  How  natural  the  sceptic's  taunt  that 
miracles  were  cheap  with  the  peasants  of  Galilee 
and  the  rabble  of  Jerusalem !  A  miracle  at 
Nero's  Court  might  indeed  have  "accredited 
Christianity."  In  truth,  it  might  have  shaken 
the  world.  But  miracle  there  was  none  ;  for, 
the  special  testimony  to  the  Jew  having  ceased, 
the  purpose  for  which  miracles  were  given  was 
accomplished. 

Like  a  day  that  breaks  with  unclouded  splen- 
dour, and  approaches  noontide  in  all  the  glory 
of  perfect  summer,  but  then  begins  to  wane, 
and  early  closes  in  amidst  the  gloom  of  gather- 
ing storm-clouds  that  shut  out  the  sky  and 
darken  all  the  scene,  so  was  it  with  the  course 
of  that  brief  story.  At  the  first  great  Pentecost 
three  thousand  converts  were  baptized  in  a  single 
day,  the  manifested  power  of  God  filled  every 
soul  with  awe,  and  those  who  were  His  own  had 
"  gladness  of  heart "  and  "  favour  with  all  the 

1  2  Tim.  iv.    1 6.     This   passage   disposes   of  the   tradition   that 
St.  Peter  was  Bishop  of  Rome. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  59 

people."  And  when  the  first  threat  of  persecution 
drove  them  together  in  prayer,  "the  place  was 
shaken  where  they  were  assembled  .  .  .  and  with 
great  power  gave  the  apostles  witness  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  Lord  Jesus."  T  The  seeming  check 
of  the  first  martyr's  death  was  followed  by  the 
conversion  of  him  who  caused  it,  the  fierce  perse- 
cutor and  blasphemer,  won  over  to  the  faith  he 
had  struggled  to  destroy,  and  chained  to  the 
chariot-wheels  of  the  triumph  of  the  gospel.  But 
now  we  see  that  same  Paul,  albeit  the  greatest  of 
the  apostles  and  the  foremost  champion  the  faith 
has  ever  known,  standing  alone  at  Cesar's  judg- 
ment-seat, a  weak,  crushed  man,  given  up  to  death 
to  satisfy  the  policy  or  caprice  of  Imperial  Rome. 
In  days  to  come  "  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
song  of  the  Lamb  "  shall  mingle  once  again  in  the 
anthem  of  the  redeemed  :  the  song  of  Moses — 


I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord  for  He  hath  triumphed  gloriously, 
The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  thrown  into  the  sea  " — 


that  song  of  the  public  triumph  of  Divine  power 
openly  displayed  ;   and  the  song  of  the  Lamb — 

1  Acts  iv.  23-33. 


60  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

the  song  of  that  deeper  but  hidden  triumph  of 
faith  in  the  unseen.  But  now  the  song  of  Moses 
has  ceased,  and  the  Church's  only  song  is  the 
song  of  Him  who  overcame  and  won  the  throne 
through  open  defeat  and  shame.  The  days  of  the 
"  rushing  mighty  wind,"  "  the  tongues  of  fire,"  the 
earthquake  shock,  are  past.  The  anchor  of  the 
Christian's  hope  is  firmly  fixed  in  the  veiled 
realities  of  heaven.  He  endures  "  as  seeing  Him 
who  is  invisible." 


CHAPTER  VI 

'"T^HE  Sovereign  of  the  Universe  is  on  the 
whole  a  good  Sovereign,  but  with  so  much 
business  on  His  hands  that  He  has  not  time  to 
look  into  details.1  Such  was  Cicero's  apology  two 
thousand  years  ago  for  Jupiter's  neglect  of  his 
terrestrial  kingdom.  And  the  words  would  fairly 
express  the  vague  thoughts  which  float  through 
the  minds  of  common  men  if  they  think  of  God 
at  all  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  earth.  But  there 
are  times  in  every  life  when,  in  the  language  of 
the  old  Psalm,  "heart  and  flesh  cry  out  for  the 
living  God."  2  The  living  God  :  not  a  mere  Provi- 
dence, but  a  real  Person — a  God  to  help  us  as  our 
fellow-man  would  help  if  only  he  had  the  power. 

1  Froude's  "  Cesar,  a  Sketch"  p.  87.  2  Psa.  Ixxxiv.  2. 

61 


62  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

And  at  such  times  men  pray  who  never  prayed 
before  ;  and  men  who  are  used  to  pray,  pray  with 
a  passionate  earnestness  they  never  knew  before. 
But  what  comes  of  it  ?  "  When  I  cry  and  call  for 
help  He  shutteth  out  my  prayer "  : I  such  is  the 
experience  of  thousands.  Men  do  not  speak  of 
these  things  ;  but,  as  they  brood  over  them,  the 
cold  mist  of  a  settled  unbelief  quenches  the  last 
spark  of  faith  in  hearts  chilled  by  a  sense  of  utter 
desolation,  or  roused  to  rebellion  by  a  sense  of 
wrong. 

To  some  no  doubt  all  this  will  savour  of  the 
mingled  profanity  and  ignorance  of  unbelief.  But 
by  many  these  pages  will  be  welcomed  as  giving 
full  and  fair  expression  to  familiar  thoughts.  And 
the  statement  of  these  difficulties  here  is  made 
with  a  view  to  their  solution.  But  where  is  that 
solution  to  be  found  ?  It  is  no  novel  experience 
with  men  that  Heaven  should  be  silent.  But  what 
is  new  and  strange  and  startling  is  that  the  silence 
should  be  so  absolute  and  so  prolonged ;  that, 
through  all  the  changing  vicissitudes  of  the 
Church's  history  for  nearly  two  thousand  years 

1  Lam.  iii.  8  (R.V.). 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  63 

that  silence  should  have  remained  unbroken.  This 
it  is  which  tries  faith,  and  hardens  unfaith  into  open 
infidelity. 

Can  this  mystery  be  solved  ?  Mere  speculations 
respecting  it  are  profitless.  The  solution  must  be 
found  in  Holy  Scripture,  if  at  all.  The  Old 
Testament,  of  course,  will  throw  no  light  on  it. 
Neither  will  the  Gospels  afford  a  clew ;  for  these 
are  the  record  of  "  days  of  heaven  upon  earth." 
Nor  yet  need  it  be  sought  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  for,  as  already  seen,  the  Book  is  the 
record  of  a  transitory  dispensation  marked  by 
abundant  displays  of  the  power  of  God  among 
men.  Is  it  not  clear  that  if  the  key  to  the  great 
secret  of  the  Gentile  dispensation  can  be  found 
at  all,  it  is  in  the  writings  of  the  apostle  to 
the  Gentiles  that  we  must  make  search  for  it? 

But  here  the  ways  divide.  The  wide  and  well- 
worn  highway  of  religious  controversy  will  never 
lead  us  to  the  truth  we  seek.  That  is  reached  only 
by  a  path  which  the  general  reader  will  refuse. 
Our  choice  lies  between  a  study  of  these  Epistles 
viewed  as  disclosing  the  "  Pauline  "  developments, 
or  perversions,  of  the  teaching  of  the  great  Rabbi 


64  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

of  Nazareth,  or  as  containing  that  further  revelation 
promised  and  foreshadowed  by  our  Divine  Lord 
in  the  later  discourses  of  His  ministry  on  earth. 
The  one  road  is  deemed  the  highway  of  modern 
enlightenment,  the  other  is  disparaged  as  a  by- 
path now  disused,  or  frequented  only  by  the 
mystic  and  the  unlearned.  But  in  this  sphere 
popularity  is  no  test  of  truth.  Let  the  atheistic 
evolutionist  account  for  it  if  he  can,  the  fact  re- 
mains that  man  is  essentially  a  religious  being. 
He  may  sink  so  low  as  to  deify  humanity  and 
make  self  his  god,  but  a  god  of  some  sort  he  must 
have.1  Religion  is  a  necessity  to  him.  The  Chris- 
tian religion  prevails  in  Christendom  ;  other  systems 
hold  sway  among  the  decaying  civilisations  of  the 
world  ;  but  neither  the  deepest  degradation  nor 
the  highest  enlightenment  has  ever  produced  a 
single  nation  or  tribe  of  atheists. 

This  undoubted  fact,  however,  may  well  give  rise 
to  most  serious  thoughts.  It  cannot  be  admitted 

i  "  We  know,  and  it  is  our  pride  to  know,  that  man  is  by  his 
constitution  a  religious  animal ;  that  atheism  is  against,  not  only 
our  reason  but  our  instincts ;  and  that  it  cannot  prevail  long " 
(Edmund  Burke).  "  Street  arabs  and  advanced  thinkers,"  is  Mr. 
Balfour's  classification  of  the  exceptions  to  this  rule  ("  Defence  of 
Philosophic  Doubt "). 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  65 

that  the  element  of  truth  is  of  no  account  in 
religion,  or  that  all  these  religions  are  equally 
acceptable.  And  once  we  come  to  the  question  of 
their  relative  excellence  the  religion  of  Christen- 
dom defies  all  comparison.  May  we,  then,  main- 
tain that  all  adherents  of  the  Christian  religion  are 
assured  of  Divine  favour?  Let  us  for  a  moment, 
forgetting  what  is  due  to  "  the  spirit  of  the  age," 
assume  the  Divine  authority  of  Scripture,  and  we 
shall  find  ourselves  confronted  by  doubts  whether 
religion  in  this  sense  is  of  any  avail  whatever. 
Judaism  was,  indeed,  a  Divine  religion.  It  had 
"  ordinances  of  Divine  service  and  its  sanctuary,"  z 
Divinely  appointed  in  a  sense  to  which  no  other 
system  could  pretend.  And  yet  we  read  :  "  He  is 
not  a  Jew  who  is  one  outwardly,  neither  is  that 
circumcision  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh  ;  but  he 
is  a  Jew  who  is  one  inwardly,  and  circumcision  is 
that  of  the  heart."  2  And  again,  "  For  neither  is 
circumcision  anything,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a 
new  creature."  3  Now,  if  in  a  religion  which 
seemed  to  consist  so  much  in  externals,  the  ex- 
ternals were  absolutely  of  no  value  whatever  save 

1  Heb.  ix.  i  (R.V.).  ~  Rom.  ii.  28.  3  Gal.  vi.  15. 

6 


f   66  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

as  they  had  their  counterpart  and  reality  in  a  man's 
heart  and  life,  this  surely  must  be  still  more  true 
of  Christianity.  May  we  not  assert  with  confi- 
dence that  he  is  not  a  Christian  who  is  one  out- 
wardly, but  he  only  is  a  Christian  who  is  one 
inwardly  ?  May  we  not  maintain  that  there  is 
a  distinction  sharp  and  clear  between  Christianity 
and  the  religion  of  Christendom. 

In  the  case  of  the  Roman  and  Greek  Churches, 
this  distinction  becomes  a  deep  and  yawning  gulf. 
And  further,  as  Mr.  Froude  has  well  said,  in  those 
countries  which  rejected  the  Reformation,  "  culture 
and  intelligence  have  ceased  to  interest  themselves 
in  a  creed  which  they  no  longer  believe.  The  laity 
are  contemptuously  indifferent,  and  leave  the  priests 
in  possession  of  the  field  in  which  reasonable 
men  have  ceased  to  expect  any  good  thing  to 
grow.  This  is  the  only  fruit  of  the  Catholic 
reaction  of  the  sixteenth  century."  And  he  adds  : 
"  If  the  same  phenomena  are  beginning  to  be 
visible  in  England,  coincident  with  the  repudia- 
tion by  some  of  the  clergy  of  the  principles  of 
the  Reformation  ;  and  if  they  are  permitted  to 
carry  through  their  Catholic  *  revival,'  the  divorce 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  67 

between  intelligence  and  Christianity  will    be  as 
complete  among  ourselves  as  it  is  elsewhere." 

"Between  intelligence  and  Christianity"  a  divorce 
is  impossible.  But  by  "  Christianity "  the  author 
here  means  "  the  religion  of  Christendom  "  ;  and 
with  this  correction  his  assertion  is  irrefutable.  | 
Mr.  Balfour's  "  Foundations  of  Belief"  escapes  the 
difficulty  here  suggested  by  stopping  short  at  the 
very  threshold.  His  work  is  "  introductory  to  the 
study  of  theology."  And  here  his  criticisms  are 
searching,  and  his  logic  is  without  a  flaw.  But 
one  step  more  would  have  brought  him  to  the 
point  where  the  ways  divide.  What  is  the 
theology  he  is  aiming  at?  Is  it  the  religion  of 
Christendom  —  a  human  religion  based  on  a 
Divine  ideal,  framed  to  reach  and  regulate  men's 
opinions  and  conduct  so  far  as  the  spiritual  side 
of  their  complex  being  is  concerned  ?  Or  is  it 
Christianity — a  Divine  revelation  commanding  the 
faith  and  thus  moulding  the  character  and  con- 
trolling the  whole  life  of  those  who  receive  it  ? 

In  the  estimation  of  some  the  great  religion  of 
Asia  compares  favourably  with  that  of  Christen- 
dom, on  account  of  its  freedom  from  priestcraft  and 


68  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

ceremonial  observances,  its  repudiation  of  penance 
and  everything  of  mere  asceticism,  and  the 
singular  truth  and  beauty  of  its  doctrine  of  "  the 
middle  path."  But  the  comparison  is  altogether 
dishonest.  It  is  drawn  between  the  ideal 
Buddhism  of  our  English  admirers  of  Gautama, 
and  the  Christian  system  in  its  more  corrupt 
developments.  The  practical  Buddhism  of  Bud- 
dhist races  is  a  gross  and  degrading  superstition, 
and  it  cannot  compare  with  the  Christian  religion 
even  at  its  worst.  And  even  the  refined  Bud- 
dhism presented  by  its  Western  exponents  is 
wanting  in  that  ennobling  element  which  is  dis- 
tinctive of  Christianity.  "  The  wholly  legendary 
and  half  mythical  story  of  Gautama's  life  are  a 
poor  equivalent  for  the  well-ascertained  facts  of 
the  ministry  of  Christ.1  Here  let  a  witness  speak 
whose  judgment  is  warped  by  no  religious  bias. 

1  For  a  calm,  scholarly,  and  crushing  refutation  of  those  who, 
like  de  Bunsen,  Seydel,  £c.,  represent  Buddhism  as  the  original  of 
Christianity,  and  of  those  who,  like  Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  read  Chris- 
tianity into  Buddhism,  see  Prof.  Kellogg's  "  Light  of  Asia  and 
Light  of  the  World  "  (Macmillan). 

The  Buddhism  of  Gautama,  I  may  add,  has  no  claim  to  be 
reckoned  a  religion,  for  it  has  no  God.  It  was  not  a  religion  at  all, 
but  merely  a  philosophy.  But  his  followers,  in  obedience  to  the 
instinctive  craving  of  human  nature  for  a  religion,  made  Gautama 


THE    SILENCE   OF    GOD  69 

"It  was  reserved  for  Christianity,"  says  Mr.  Lecky, 
"  to  present  to  the  world  an  ideal  character  which, 
through  all  the  changes  of  eighteen  centuries  has 
filled  the  hearts  of  men  with  an  impassioned  love, 
has  shown  itself  capable  of  acting  on  all  ages, 
nations,  temperaments,  and  conditions  ;  has  not 
only  been  the  highest  pattern  of  virtue,  but  the 
highest  incentive  to  its  practice,  and  has  exerted 
so  deep  an  influence  that  it  may  be  truly  said  that 
the  simple  record  of  three  short  years  of  active  life 
has  done  more  to  regenerate  and  soften  mankind 
than  all  the  disquisitions  of  philosophers  and  all 
the  exhortations  of  moralists.  This  has,  indeed, 
been  the  well-spring  oi  whatever  has  been  best 
and  purest  in  the  Christian  life.  ^Amid  all  the 
sins  and  failings,  amid  all  the  priestcraft,  the  per- 
secutions, and  fanaticism  which  have  defaced  the 
Church,  it  has  preserved  in  the  character  and 
example  of  its  Founder  an  enduring  principle  of 
regeneration." 

If  the  Christian  religion,  even  in  its  outward  and 


himself  their  God.  And  the  Buddhism  of  later  times  has  invariably 
assimilated  some  of  the  elements  of  the  base  polytheisms  by  which 
it  has  been  surrounded. 


70  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

human  side,  can  justly  claim  such  a  testimony  as 
this,  what  words  are  adequate  to  describe  CHRIS- 
TIANITY in  the  higher  and  deeper  sense?  And 
let  no  one  carp  at  this  distinction  as  fanciful  or 
forced.  In  fact,  it  is  broad  and  vital.  Just  as  the 
religion  of  Asia  is  based  on  the  life  and  teaching 
of  Gautama,  so  the  religion  of  Christendom,  re- 
garded as  a  human  system,  claims  to  be  based 
on  the  life  and  teaching  of  the  great  Rabbi  of 
Nazareth.  But  the  advent  and  ministry  of  Christ 
were,  in  fact,  introductory  to  the  great  revelation  of 
Christianity.  Thus  was  crowned  and  completed, 
as  it  were,  the  fabric  which  had  been  rearing  for 
ages.  In  the  public  aspect  of  it  His  mission  had 
relation  to  the  economy  about  to  close.  He  was 
"  born  under  the  law."  *  He  "  was  a  minister  of 
the  circumcision  for  the  truth  of  God."  Hence  His 
words,  "  I  am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel."  And  as  the  result,  infinite  love, 
and  grace  which  knows  no  distinctions,  were  re- 
strained. "  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with," 
He  exclaimed,  "  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be 
accomplished  !  " 

1  Gal.  iv.  4. 


CHAPTER     VII 

JUST  half  a  century  ago  the  theologians  of 
Christendom  were  startled  by  the  publica- 
tion of  Ferdinand  Christian  Baur's  treatise  on 
Paul.  It  was  an  epoch-making  book.  The 
author's  critical  researches  had  led  him  to  assert 
the  unquestionable  authenticity  of  the  Epistles  to 
the  Romans,  the  Corinthians,  and  the  Galatians. 
And  fastening  on  these  writings  as  our  safest 
guides  in  historical  inquiries  respecting  the  cha- 
racter and  rise  of  primitive  Christianity,  he  went 
on  to  demonstrate  its  Pauline  origin.  "  These 
authentic  documents,"  he  urged  (to  quote  a  recent 
writer),  "reveal  antitheses  of  thought,  a  Petrine 
and  a  Pauline  party  in  the  Apostolic  Church. 
The  Petrine  was  the  primitive  Christian,  made 


72  THE   SILENCE    OF   GOD 

up  of  men  who,  while  believing  in  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  did  not  cease  to  be  Jews,  whose 
Christianity  was  but  a  narrow  neo-Judaism.  The 
Pauline  was  a  reformed  and  Gentile  Christianity, 
which  aimed  at  universalising  the  faith  in  Jesus 
by  freeing  it  from  the  Jewish  law  and  traditions. 
The  universalism  of  Christianity,  and,  therefore, 
its  historical  importance  and  achievements,  are 
thus  really  the  work  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  His 
work  he  accomplished  not  with  the  approval  and 
consent,  but  against  the  will  and  in  spite  of  the 
efforts  and  oppositions,  of  the  older  apostles,  and 
especially  of  their  more  inveterate  adherents  who 
claimed  to  be  the  party  of  Christ."  J 

If  we  are  to  understand  the  sequel  to  the  present 
argument  we  must  rescue  from  its  false  environ- 
ment of  German  rationalism  the  important  truth 
which  Baur  thus  brought  to  light  and  distorted.2 
We  must  needs  recognise  the  intensely  Jewish 
character  of  the  Pentecostal  dispensation.  And  in 

1  "The   Place   of  Christ   in    Modern   Theology,"   by  Principal 
Fairbairn,  D.D.,  p.  267. 

q  2A  dozen  years  before  Baur's  "Paul"  appeared,  the  truth 
thus  attributed  to  him  was  discussed  at  the  then  celebrated 
' '  Powerscourt  meetings  "  in  Ireland  ! 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  73 

this  connection  we  must  also  apprehend  the  two- 
fold aspect  of  the  death  of  Christ.  The  Cross 
was  the  manifestation  of  Divine  love  without 
reserve  or  limit ;  but  it  was  also  the  expression 
of  man's  unutterable  malignity.  Did  reverence 
permit  us  to  give  play  to  imagination  on  such 
a  subject,  we  might  suppose  the  death  of  Christ 
accomplished  by  the  Roman  power  in  spite  of 
protests  and  appeals  from  an  aggrieved  and  down- 
trodden Jewish  people.  More  than  this,  we  might 
suppose  "  the  King  of  the  Jews "  given  up  to 
death  on  grounds  of  public  policy,  yet  treated 
to  the  last  with  all  the  respect  and  homage  due 
to  His  personal  character  and  royal  claims. 

And  who  will  dare  to  aver  that  the  atoning 
efficacy  of  the  death  of  our  Divine  Lord,  how- 
ever accomplished,  could  be  less  than  infinite? 
But  mark  the  emphasis  which  Scripture  lays 
upon  the  manner  of  His  death.  It  was  "  the  death 
of  the  Cross''  No  element  of  contempt  or  hate 
was  wanting.  Imperial  Rome  decreed  it,  but  it 
was  the  favoured  people  who  demanded  it.  The 
"  wicked  hands "  by  which  they  murdered  their 
Messiah  were  those  of  their  heathen  masters,  but 


74  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

the  responsibility  for  the  act  was  all  their  own. 
Nor  was  it  the  ignorant  rabble  of  Jerusalem  that 
forced  the  Roman  government  to  set  up  the  cross 
on  Calvary.  Behind  the  mob  was  the  great 
Council  of  the  nation.  Neither  was  it  a  sudden 
burst  of  passion  that  led  these  men  to  clamour  for 
His  death.  Hostile  sects  forgot  their  differences 
in  deep-laid  plots  to  compass  His  destruction. 
The  time,  moreover,  was  the  Paschal  feast,  when 
Jews  from  every  land  were  gathered  in  Jerusalem. 
Every  interest,  every  class,  every  section  of  that 
.  people  shared  in  the  great  crime.  Never  was 
there  a  clearer  case  of  national  guilt.  Never  was 
there  an  act  for  which  a  nation  could  more 
justly  be  summoned  to  account. 

But  Infinite  mercy  could  forgive  even  that 
transcendent  sin,  and  in  Jerusalem  itself  it  was 
that  the  great  amnesty  was  first  proclaimed. 
Pardon  and  peace  were  preached,  by  Divine 
command,  to  the  very  men  who  crucified  the 
Son  of  God  !  But  here  prevailing  misconceptions 
are  so  fixed  that  the  whole  significance  of  the 
narrative  is  lost.  The  apostles  were  Divinely 
guided  to  declare  that  if,  even  then,  the  "  men 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  75 

of  Israel "  repented,  their  Messiah  would  return 
to  fulfil  to  them  all  that  their  own  prophets  had 
foretold  and  promised  of  spiritual  and  national 
blessing.1 

To  represent  this  as  Christian  doctrine,  or  the 
institution  of  "  a  new  religion,"  is  to  betray 
ignorance  alike  of  Judaism  and  of  Christianity. 
The  speakers  were  Jews — the  apostles  of  One 
who  was  Himself  "a  minister  of  the  circum- 
cision."  Their  hearers  were  Jews,  and  as  Jews 
they  were  addressed.  The  Pentecostal  Church 
which  was  based  upon  the  testimony  was  in- 
tensely and  altogether  Jewish.  It  was  not  merely 
that  the  converts  were  Jews,  and  none  but  Jews, 

1  Though  the  revisers  have  reproduced  St.  Peter's  words  in 
one  important  passage  which  the  Authorised  Version  has  misread, 
yet  to  take  these  simple  words  in  their  plain  and  obvious  meaning 
is  to  risk  being  looked  upon  as  either  fool  or  faddist.  The  words 
are:  "Repent  ye  therefore,  and  turn  again,  that  your  sins 
may  be  blotted  out,  that  there  may  come  seasons  of  refreshing 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord ;  and  that  He  may  send  the 
Christ  who  hath  been  appointed  for  you,  even  Jesus ;  whom  the 
heaven  must  receive  until  the  times  of  restoration  of  all  things, 
whereof  God  spake  by  the  mouth  of  His  holy  prophets.  ...  Ye 
are  the  sons  of  the  prophets  and  of  the  covenant  which  God 
made  with  your  fathers"  (Acts  iii.  19,  &c.).  The  whole  passage 
should  be  carefully  studied,  and  by  all  means  see  Alford's  notes, 
showing  how  fully  and  definitely  all  this  refers  to  Jewish  hopes 
and  promises. 


76  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

but  that  the  idea  of  evangelising  Gentiles  never 
was  even  mooted.  When  the  first  great  perse- 
cution scattered  the  disciples,  and  they  "  went 
everywhere  preaching  the  Word,"  they  preached, 
we  are  expressly  told,  "  to  none  but  to  the  Jews."  * 
And  when  after  the  lapse  of  years  Peter  entered 
a  Gentile  house,  he  was  publicly  called  to  account 
for  conduct  that  seemed  so  strange  and  wrong.2 

In  a  word,  if  "To  the  Jew  first"  is  character- 
istic of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  a  whole,  "  To 
the  Jew  only "  is  plainly  stamped  upon  every 
part  of  these  early  chapters,  described  by  theo- 
logians as  the  "  Hebraic  section  "  of  the  .  book. 
The  fact  is  clear  as  light.  And  if  any  are 
prepared  to  account  for  it  by  Jewish  prejudice 
and  ignorance,  they  may  at  once  throw  down 
this  volume,  for  it  is  here  assumed  that  the 


1  Acts  viii.  i,  4  ;  cj.  xi.  '19.     It  is  noteworthy  that  at  this  time  all 
the   believers   went   out   preaching   except  the  apostles.      And  yet 
there   are   those   who   maintain   that   preaching   is   an   exclusively 
apostolic  function  ! 

2  Acts  xi.     The  words   "they  that  were  of  the  circumcision" 
might  seem  to  suggest  that  there  were  Gentiles  at  that  time  in  the 
Church.     But,  as  Dean  Alford  says,  Luke  uses  the  phrase  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  time  when  he  was  writing  :  "  In  this  case 
all  those  spoken  of  would  belong  to  the  circumcision." 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  77 

apostles  of  the  Lord,  speaking  and  acting  in  the 
memorable  days  of  Pentecostal  power,  were 
Divinely  guided  in  their  work  and  testimony. 

The  Jerusalem  Church,  then,  was  Jewish. 
Their  Bible  was  the  Jewish  Scriptures.  The 
Jewish  temple  was  their  house  of  prayer  and 
common  meeting-place.1  Their  beliefs  and  hopes 
and  words  and  acts  all  marked  them  out  as  Jews. 
Hence  the  amazing  number  of  the  converts.  On 
the  day  of  Pentecost  alone  three  thousand  were 
baptized.2  Soon  afterwards  their  company  would 
seem  to  have  more  than  trebled.3  At  the  time 
of  the  sin  and  death  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira, 
still  further  "  multitudes,  both  of  men  and 
women,"  were  added  to  their  company.  And 
at  the  time  of  the  appointment  of  the  men 
who,  by  a  strange  vagary  of  tradition,  have  been 
misnamed  "  the  deacons,"  4  it  is  recorded  that 

1  Acts  ii.  46,  iii.  I,  v.  42.  2  Ibid.  ii.  41. 

3  Ibid.  iv.  4.     If    "  the  number  of  the  men  came  to  be  about 
five  thousand,"  it  is  reasonably  certain    that   the  whole   company 
was  double  this  number  at  least. 

4  They  are  never   so  called  in  the  Acts.     Indeed,  our  English 
word  "  deacon  "  has  no  equivalent  in  ancient  or  in  Biblical  Greek, 
and  if  the  Revisers  had  been  true  to  their  avowed  principles  of 
translation   the  word  would   have   disappeared.     AiaKofog  is  used         -\j j 


78  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

"  the  number  of  the  disciples  multiplied  in 
Jerusalem  greatly,  and  a  great  company  of  the 
priests  were  obedient  to  the  faith."  I  Nothing 
was  further  from  the  thoughts  of  these  men 
than  "  founding  a  new  religion."  On  the  con- 
trary, while  hailing  the  rejected  Nazarene  as 
their  national  Messiah,  they  clung  with  passionate 
devotion  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers. 

But  what  bearing  has  all  this  upon  the  ques- 
tion here  ?  The  Jews  had  crucified  the  Messiah. 
But  now,  when  vengeance  swift  and  terrible 
might  have  been  expected  to  fall  upon  that 

guilty     people,     Divine     mercy    held     back     the 
q 

judgment  and  called  them  once ,  again  to  re- 
pentance. The  testimony  was  full  and  clear, 
and  it  was  confirmed  by  a  signal  display  of 
miraculous  power.  But  what  was  the  answer 
of  the  men  who  sat  "  in  Moses'  seat " — the 
accredited  leaders  and  representatives  of  the 

twenty-two  times  in  the  Epistles,  and  should  be  rendered 
"minister"  in  every  case,  and  especially  in  Phil.  i.  I,  and 
I  Tim.  iii.  8  and  12,  where  ministers  are  distinguished  from 
bishops.  In  the  Gospels  it  occurs  eight  times,  and  always  as 
equivalent  to  "servant"  in  the  common  acceptation,  save  in 
John  xii.  26,  where  it  is  used  in  a  higher  sense. 
1  Acts  vi.  7. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  79 

nation  ?  I     By   the    murder   of    Stephen    they  re-  p 
enacted,  so  far  as  it  was  in  their  power  to  re-enact, 
the  supreme  tragedy  of  Calvary.     Having  regard 
to  all  the  events  which  marked  the  interval,  that 
further  crime  betokened    a   more  deliberate  hate, 
and  therefore  a  greater  depth  of  guilt  even  than 
the    Crucifixion    itself.     There    was    no    popular 
clamour    now    to    blind    their   judgment.     When, 
some    months    before,    in    a    formal    meeting    of 
their    national    senate,2  the    plot    to    murder    the 
apostles    was  first    mooted,3   it   was   one    of    the 
great   doctors  of  the    Sanhedrin  who   intervened 
on  their  behalf.     Gamaliel's  words,  moreover,  and 
the  action  which  the  council  took  on  them,  give 
proof   how  entirely  the    position  and  teaching  of 
the    apostles    were    within    the    scope    of   Jewish 
beliefs  and  hopes,  and  how  thoroughly  they  were 
regarded    as    a    Jewish    sect.4       But    these    men 

1  Matt,  xxiii.  2.  2  Acts  v.  21,  33-40. 

3  I  use  the  word  murder   advisedly,  for  under  the  Roman  law 
the  Jews  had  no  power  to  put  any  one  to  death.     The  crucifixion 
was  a  judicial  murder  ;  the  stoning  of  Stephen  was  murder  pure  , 
and  simple.     See  John  xviii.  31. 

4  Acts   v.  34-40 ;   cf.    xxii.    3.      A    quarter   of  a   century   later 
they  were   still   known  as    "the  sect  of   the   Nazarenes "    (Acts 
xxiv.  5).     See  p.  85  post. 


8o  THE   SILENCE   OF    GOD 

were  so  blinded  by  religious  rancour  that  no 
voice,  human  or  Divine,  could  avail  to  restrain 
them. 

Heaven's  best  gifts,  when  perverted  or  abused, 
often  turn  to  what  is  virulently  bad  ;  and  reli- 
gion, when  divorced  from  spiritual  life,  appears 
to  have  some  mysterious  power  to  narrow  and 
harden  and  deprave  the  human  heart.  "  It 
cannot  be  that  a  prophet  perish  out  of  Jeru- 
salem ! "  J  The  pathos  of  the  words  does  not 
conceal  their  scathing  irony.  Among  common 
men,  however  evil  or  degraded,  a  prophet  might 
pass  unharmed  :  religious  men  alone  would 
persecute  and  murder  him  !  In  every  age, 
indeed,  religion  has  been  the  most  implacable 
enemy  of  God,  the  most  relentless  persecutor  of 
His  people.  Witness  the  tombs  of  the  prophets  ! 
Witness  the  blood-stained  pages  of  the  Church's 
history !  The  Christian  martyrs  in  unnumbered 
millions — for  though  their  names  are  written  in 
heaven,  earth  has  kept  no  record  of  them  —  the 
best  and  purest  and  noblest  of  mankind,  have 
been  tortured  and  done  to  death  in  the  name 

1  Luke  xiii.  33. 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  81 

of  religion*  How  just  is  the  infidel's  taunt  that 
it  radically  vitiates  the  standard  of  human 
morals  !  2 

The  men  by  whose  hands  the  "  first  martyr " 
died  were  the  very  men  who  had  been  "  the 
betrayers  and  murderers"  of  Christ.  In  times 
of  riot  or  excitement  mobs  will  commit  excesses 
which,  in  his  better  moments,  every  man  of  them 
would  deprecate.  But  these  men  were  not  of 
the  class  that  mobs  are  made  of.  The  high 
priest  presided.  Around  him  were  the  elders 
and  the  scribes.  By  the  great  Council  of  the 
nation  it  was  that  the  deed  was  done.  Its 
members  were  the  acknowledged  religious  leaders 
of  the  people.  Many  of  them,  like  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  himself  the  formal  witness  of  the  death, 
were  men  of  blameless  life,  of  untiring  zeal  and 
intensest  piety.  And  as  the  cruel  stones  were 

1  The  victims  of  the  so-called  Christian  persecutions  have  been 
wildly  estimated  at  over  fifty  millions  !     Of  the  victims  of  pagan 
Rome  I  have  never  seen  any  estimate.     And   pagan  persecutions 
also  were  in  the  name  of  religion  !     From  the  death  of  Abel  in 
primeval   times   down  to  the    massacres   of    Armenian   Christians 
to-day,    religion    has    heaped    up   the    tale    of  human    guilt    and 
sorrow. 

2  Mill's  "  Autobiography,"  p.  40. 

7 


82  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

showered  upon  that  face  which  had  shone  like 
an  angel's  as  they  looked  on  it,  it  was  hatred 
to  the  Nazarene  that  fired  their  hearts.  Their 
King  they  had  driven  out :  Stephen  was  the 
messenger  sent  after  Him  to  declare  anew  their 
deliberate  purpose  to  reject  Him.1  This  was 
their  answer  to  the  heaven-sent  testimony  of 
c  Pentecost.  "  All  manner  of  sin "  against  the 
Son  might  be  forgiven  ;  they  had  now  com- 
mitted that  deeper  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
for  which  there  could  be  no  forgiveness.2 

During  the  forty  years  of  Jeremiah's  ministry 
the  first  destruction  of  Jerusalem  was  delayed. 
So  now  well-nigh  forty  years  elapsed  before  the 
crash  of  that  still  more  awful  judgment  which 
engulfed  them.  God  is  very  pitiful,  and  then, 
as  now,  "  He  had  compassion  on  His  people 
and  on  His  dwelling-place.  But  they  mocked 
the  messengers  of  God,  and  despised  His  words, 
and  misused  His  prophets,  until  the  wrath  of 
the  Lord  arose  against  His  people  till  there  was 
no  remedy."  3  But  though  the  public  event 

1  Luke  xix.  14.  2  Matt.  xii.  31,  32. 

3  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  15,  &c. 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  83 

which  marked  their  fall  was  thus  deferred,  the 
death  of  Stephen  was  the  secret  crisis  of  their 
destiny.  Never  again  was  a  public  miracle 
witnessed  in  Jerusalem.  The  special  Pentecostal 
proclamation  *  was  withdrawn.  The  Pentecostal 
Church  was  scattered.  The  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  forthwith  received  his  commission,  and 
the  current  of  events  set  steadily,  and  with  con- 
tinually increasing  force,  toward  the  open  rejection 
of  the  long-favoured  people  and  the  public  pro- 
clamation of  the  great  characteristic  truth  of 
Christianity.  Within  that  truth  lies  concealed 
the  key  to  the  mystery  of  a  silent  Heaven. 

1  Acts  iii.   19-36. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

\7i  TE  have  now  reached  a  stage  in  this 
*  *  inquiry  where  a  retrospect  may  be 
opportune.  Expression  has  been  given  to  diffi- 
culties and  doubts  to  which  no  thoughtful  person 
is  a  stranger.  And  these,  it  has  been  seen,  are 
rather  intensified,  than  answered  or  removed,  by 
an  appeal  to  the  mere  surface  current  of 
Scripture  testimony.  The  "Christian  argument" 
from  miracles  has  been  shown  to  be  not  only  in- 
adequate, but  faulty.  And  we  have  turned  to 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  to  find  how  fallacious 
is  the  popular  belief  that  the  Jerusalem  Church 
was  Christian.  In  fact,  it  was  thoroughly  and 
altogether  Jewish.  The  only  difference,  indeed, 
between  the  position  of  the  disciples  during  the 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  85 

"  Hebraic  period "  of  the  Acts,  and  during  the 
period  of  the  Lord's  earthly  ministry,  was  that 
the  great  fact  of  the  Resurrection  became  the 
burden  of  their  testimony.  And  finally  we  have 
seen  how  the  rejection  of  that  testimony  by  the 
favoured  nation  led  to  the  unfolding  of  the 
Divine  purpose  to  deprive  the  Jew  of  his 
vantage-ground  of  privilege  and  to  usher  in  the 
Christian  dispensation. 

The  Divine  religion  of  Judaism  in  every  part  of 
it,  both  in  the  spirit  and  the  letter,  pointed  to  the 
coming  of  a  promised  Messiah  ;  and  to  maintain 
that  a  man  ceased  to  be  a  Jew  because  he 
cherished  that  hope,  and  accepted  the  Messiah 
when  He  came — this  is  a  position  absolutely 
grotesque  in  its  absurdity.  It  would  not  be  one 
whit  more  monstrous  to  declare  that  in  our  own 
day  a  man  ceases  to  be  a  Christian  if  and  when 
faith  in  Christ,  from  being  a  mere  shibboleth  of 
hfe  creed,  becomes  a  reality  in  his  heart  and  life. 

Twenty  years  after  the  Pentecostal  Church  was 
formed,  the  disciples  were  still  regarded  by  their 
own  nation  as  a  Jewish  sect.  "  The  sect  of  the 
Nazarenes,"  Tertullus  called  them  in  his  arraign- 


86  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

ment  of  Paul  before  Felix ;  and  Paul,  in  his 
defence,  repudiated  the  charge,  claiming  that  the 
followers  of  the  Way  were  the  true  worshippers  of 
the  ancestral  God  of  his  nation.1  Israel  fell,  not 
because  the  disciples,  alive  to  the  spiritual 
significance  of  their  religion,  accepted  Christ,  but 
because  the  nation  rejected  Him,  and  persisted  in 
that  rejection,  "  despising  His  words  and  misusing 
His  prophets,  till  there  was  no  remedy." 

It  would  be  an  idle  and  profitless  speculation 
to  discuss  what  would  have  been  the  course  of 
the  dispensation  if  the  Pentecostal  testimony 
had  led  the  Jews  to  repentance.  What  concerns 
us  is  the  fact  that  Israel's  fall  was  due  to  the 
national  rejection  of  Messiah,  and  that  that  fall 
was  "  the  reconciling  of  the  world  "  2 — a  radical 
change  in  God's  attitude  toward  men,  such  as 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  gave  no  indica- 

1  Acts  xxiv.  5,  14.  "After  the  Way,  which  they  call  a  sect,  so 
serve  I  the  God  of  our  fathers"  (see  also  xxviii.  22),  and  he  goes  on 
to  appeal  to  the  law  and  the  prophets.  "The  Way"  came  to  be 
the  common  expression  for  their  teaching  (see,  e.g.,  Acts  xix.  9, 
23,  xxii.  4,  xxiv.  14,  22  R.V.).  And  speaking  before  a  heathen 
judge  he  purposely  uses,  not  the  Jewish  expression,  u  QWQ  TMV 
Trarspwv  i'ip.wv,  but  the  term  familiar  to  the  heathen,  6 
Qtoc,  the  ancestral  or  tutelary  God. 

2  Rom.  xi.  15. 


THE   SILENCE    OF    GOD  87 

tion  of,  and  even  the  Gospels  foreshadowed  but 
vaguely.  We  thus  steer  our  course  unswayed 
by  the  ignorance  of  the  Christian  sceptic  and 
the  animus  of  the  avowed  unbeliever.  The  one, 
disparaging  the  Epistles,  turns  back  to  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  to  seek  there  an  ideal  Christianity : 
the  other  has  no  difficulty  in  showing  that  the 
teaching  of  Christ,  when  so  perverted,  is  the 
dream  of  a  visionary.  The  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  combines  principles  of  limitless  scope  with 
precepts  designed  for  the  time  at  which  they  were 
spoken,  and  the  spiritually  intelligent  cannot  fail 
to  discriminate  between  the  two.  It  was  for  such 
the  Bible  was  written,  and  neither  for  infidels  nor 
fools.' 

We  conclude,  then,  as  we  study  the  records  of 
the  Pentecostal  Jewish  Church,  that  the  charac- 
teristic truths  of  Christianity  have  yet  to  be 
revealed.  Turning  back  to  the  earlier  Scriptures 
with  the  knowledge  we  now  possess,  we  may  find 
them  there  in  embryo,  but  the  full  and  formal 
promulgation  of  them  must  be  sought  in  the 
Epistles.  But  here  the  parting  of  the  ways  will 

1  See  Appendix,  Note  IV. 


88  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

become  still  more  definitely  marked.  In  passing 
away  from  the  ministry  of  "  the  apostle  to  the 
circumcision,"  we  leave  behind  us,  of  course,  the 
religion  of  Christendom — for  is  not  St.  Peter  its 
patron  saint  ?  Mere  Protestantism,  moreover,  has 
but  little  sympathy  with  studies  of  this  kind. 
And  as  for  that  school  of  religious  thought  which 
seems  for  the  moment  to  stand  highest  in  the 
popular  favour,  we  break  with  it  entirely  on 
entering  upon  the  inquiry  which  lies  before  us. 
None  such  will  accompany  the  truth-seeker  as  he 
passes  on  his  lonely  way. 

But  while  other  schools  will  be  simply  indifferent 
to  this  inquiry,  open  hostility  will  be  the  attitude 
of  those  who  claim  to  be  the  party  of  progress  and 
enlightenment.  It  may  be  well,  therefore,  to  turn 
aside  once  again  to  examine  their  pretensions. 
No  generous  mind  would  willingly  insult  a  man's 
religion,  whether  he  be  Christian  or  Jew, 
Mahometan  or  Buddhist.  But  when  "  religious  " 
men  pose  as  sceptics  and  critics,  they  come  out 
into  the  open,  and  forfeit  all  "right  of  sanctuary.' 
Courtesy  is  due  to  the  religious  man  who  stands 
behind  the  labarum  of  his  creed.  Courtesy  is  no 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  89 

less  due  to  the  agnostic  who  refuses  faith  in  all  that 
lies  outside  the  sphere  of  sense  or  demonstration. 
But  what  shall  be  said  for  those  who  discard 
belief  in  the  supernatural  while  they  claim  to  be 
the  true  exponents  of  a  system  which  has  the 
supernatural  as  its  only  basis  ;  or  who  deprecate 
belief  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  while 
they  profess  to  hold  and  teach  that  to  which, 
apart  from  inspiration  in  the  strictest  sense,  none 
but  the  credulous  would  listen  ? 

These  men  pretend  to  mental  superiority ;  but 
we  only  need  to  tear  away  the  lion's  skin  they 
masquerade  in  to  find — exactly  what  we  might 
expect !  Here  is  a  dilemma  from  which  there  is 
no  escape.  If  the  New  Testament  be  Divinely 
inspired,  we  accept  its  teaching ;  we  believe  that 
Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God,  that  He  was  born  of  a 
virgin,  that  He  died  and  rose  again,  that  He 
ascended  to  heaven,  and  now  sits  as  man  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  ;  in  a  word,  we  are  Christians, 
and  to  take  any  other  position  is  to  stultify  our- 
selves by  dethroning  reason  itself.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  New  Testament  be  not  inspired, 
no  consensus  of  mere  human  opinion  or  testimony, 


90  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

however  ancient  or  venerable  or  widespread,  would 
warrant  our  accepting  figments  so  essentially 
incredible  ;  in  a  word,  we  are  agnostics  :  and  to 
take  any  other  position  is  to  pose  as  superstitious 
fools  who  would  believe  anything. 

The  Christian  and  the  infidel  cannot  both  be 
right,  yet  both  are  entitled  to  respect,  for  the  one 
position  is  logically  as  unassailable  as  the  other. 
But  what  shall  be  said  for  the  unbelieving 
Christian,  or  the  Christianised  infidel?  If  he  be 
dishonest  he  is  almost  bad  enough  for  a  gaol ;  if 
he  be  honest  he  is  almost  weak  enough  for  an 
asylum.  The  weak  deserve  our  pity  ;  the  wicked 
our  contempt.  And  their  claim  to  be  freethinkers, 
their  affectation  of  intellectual  superiority,  give 
proof  that  with  the  majority  the  more  generous 
alternative  is  the  true  one.  The  old  Jewish 
proverb  about  straining  out  a  gnat  and  swallowing 
a  camel  well  describes  their  attempt  to  combine 
the  most  fastidious  scepticism  with  the  blindest 
faith.  These  modern  Sadducees  talk  "  as  though 
wisdom  were  born  with  them  "  ;  whereas,  in  fact, 
,  like  their  prototypes  of  old,  they  are  the  stupid 
advocates  of  an  impossible  compromise. 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  91 

Let  there  be  no  misunderstanding  here.  It  is 
not  a  question  of  demanding  faith  on  grounds 
which  are  either  false  or  inadequate.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  trading  on  the  superstitious  element 
in  human  nature,  lest  common  men,  in  throwing 
off  the  restraints  of  religion,  should  allow  liberty 
to  degenerate  into  licence.  This  appeal  is 
addressed  to  the  fair-minded,  the  intelligent,  the 
thoughtful.  If  we  possess  a  revelation,  and  if  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity  are  Divinely  accredited 
as  true,  reason  commands  our  acceptance  of  them, 
and  unbelief  is  an  outrage  upon  reason  itself.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  have  no  revelation  ;  or, 
what  comes  to  the  same  thing,  if  the  Divine 
element  in  Scripture  is  merely  traditional,  and 
must  be  separated  from  abounding  error — picked 
out  like  treasure  from  a  dust-heap — then  we  must 
either  give  up  our  Protestantism  and  fall  back  on 
the  authority  of  the  Church,  or  else  we  must 
needs  face  the  matter  fairly,  and  accept  and  act 
upon  the  dictum  that  "  the  rational  attitude  of 
the  thinking  mind  towards  the  supernatural  is  that 
of  scepticism."  The  superstitious  will  take  refuge 
in  the  former  alternative  ;  the  latter  will  commend 


92  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

itself  to  all  free  and  fearless  thinkers.  The 
former,  indeed,  is  not  only  intellectually  deplor- 
able, but  logically  absurd.  We  are  called  upon 
to  believe  the  Scriptures  because  the  Church 
accredits  them.  The  Bible  is  not  infallible,  but 
the  Church  is  infallible,  and  upon  the  authority 
of  the  Church  our  faith  can  find  a  sure  foundation.1 
But  how  do  we  know  that  the  Church  is  to  be 
trusted  ?  The  ready  answer  is,  We  know  it  upon 
the  authority  of  the  Bible.  That  is  to  say,  we 
trust  the  Bible  on  the  authority  of  the  Church, 
and  we  trust  the  Church  on  the  authority  of  the 
,  Bible !  It  is  a  bad  case  of  "  the  confidence 
trick." 

But,  it  will  be  said,  is  it  not  to  the  Church  that 
we  owe  the  Bible  ?  2  Regarded  as  a  book  we  owe 
it  indeed  in  a  sense  to  the  Church,  just  as  we 
owe  it  to  the  printer.  But  in  a  sense  which 
appeals  to  us  more  closely  here  in  England  we 
owe  it  to  noble  men  who  rescued  it  for  us  in 
defiance  of  the  Church.  Let  not  the  Protestants 
of  England  forget  William  Tyndale.  His  life- 

1  This  is  the  position  assumed  by  "  Lux  Mundi."     See  specially 
pp.  340-341- 

2  The  Old  Testament  we  owe,  of  course,  entirely  to  the  Jews. 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  93 

work  was  to  bring  the  Bible  within  reach  even 
of  the  humblest  peasant.  And  for  no  other 
offence  than  this  the  Church  hounded  him  to  his 
death,  never  resting  till  it  strangled  him  at  the 
stake  and  flung  his  body  to  the  flames. 

But  the  Bible  is  more  than  a  book — it  is  a 
revelation ;  and  thus  regarded,  it  is  above  the 
Church.  We  do  not  judge  the  Bible  by  the 
Church  ;  we  judge  the  Church  and  its  teaching 
by  the  Bible.1  This  is  our  safeguard  against  the 
ignorance  and  tyranny  of  priestcraft.  But  in  our 
day  those  who  deprecate  most  strongly  the  tyranny 
of  the  priest  are  precisely  those  who  champion 

1  The  Church  of  England  teaches  unequivocally  that  there  is 
neither  salvation  nor  infallibility  in  the  Church,  and  that  the 
Church's  authority  in  matters  of  faith  is  controlled  and  limited  by 
Holy  Writ  (see  Articles  xviii.-xxi.).  And  this  is  Protestantism  ;  not  p 
a  repudiation  of  authority  in  the  spiritual  sphere,  but  a  revolt 
against  the  bondage  of  mere  human  authority  falsely  claiming  to  be 
Divine.  It  delivers  us  from  the  authority  of  "  the  Church,"  that 
we  may  be  free  to  bow  to  the  authority  of  God.  "  The  Church  " 
claims  to  mediate  between  God  and  man.  But  Christianity  teaches 
that  all  pretensions  of  the  kind  are  both  false  and  profane,  and 
points  to  our  Divine  Lord  as  the  only  Mediator.  Protestantism  is  ^ 
not  our  religion,  but  it  leaves  us  with  a  free  conscience  and  an  open 
Bible,  face  to  face  with  God.  It  is  not  an  anchorage  for  faith  ;  but 
it  is  like  the  breakwater  which  renders  our  anchorage  secure.  It 
shields  us  from  influences  which  make  Christianity  impossible. 


94  THE    SILENCE    OF   GOD 

most  loudly  the  tyranny  of  the  professor  and  the 
pundit.  The  occupant  of  a  University  chair  cannot 
fail  to  be  eminent  in  the  branch  of  knowledge  in 
which,  he  excels,  and  his  value  as  a  specialist  is 
unquestionable.  But  he  may  be  so  utterly  un- 
spiritual,  and  withal  so  deficient  in  judgment  and 
common  sense,  that  his  opinion  may  be  worth  less 
than  that  of  an  intelligent  peasant  or  a  Christian 
schoolboy.  The  fabric  of  the  Bible,  he  tells  us, 
is  wholly  unreliable,  but  some  of  its  most  un- 
believable mysteries  are  truths  Divinely  revealed. 
But  what  claim  has  he  to  be  listened  to  in  such 
a  case?  The  setting  of  the  trinket  is  worthless, 
and  most  of  its  seeming  gems  are  spurious,  but 
here  and  there  he  indicates  a  diamond  or  a  pearl. 
But  the  profoundest  knowledge  of  mathematics 
or  Oriental  dialects  does  not  qualify  a  man  to 
judge  of  pearls  and  diamonds.  Still  less  does  it 
fit  him  to  recognise  spiritual  truths.1 

If    the    Bible    has    really   been    discredited    by 
modern  research,  let  us  have  the  honesty  to  own 

1  These  men  declare  that  to  them  our  faith  in  Holy  Writ  seems 
foolishness.  But  Holy  Writ  warns  us  that  ' '  the  natural  man 
receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  :  for  they  are  foolish- 
ness unto  him"  (i  Cor.  ii.  14). 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  95 

the  fact  and  the  manliness  to  face  its  consequences. 
But  if  the  Bible  has  not  been  thus  discredited,  if 
the  results  of  modern  research  have  been  entirely 
in  its  favour,1  then  let  us  show  a  bolder  front  in 
our  stand  for  faith.  And  let  faith  and  unbelief 
measure  their  distance  once  again. 

The  Bible  was  written  for  honest  hearts.  It 
is  addressed,  moreover,  to  spiritual  men.  And 
what  is  the  practical  test  of  spirituality?  "If  any 
man  think  himself  to  be  a  prophet,  or  spiritual, 
let  him  acknowledge  that  the  things  which  I  write 
unto  you  are  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  "  :  2 
these  words  betoken,  not  the  insolence  of  a  priest, 
but  the  authority  of  an  inspired  apostle.  It  is 
as  believers  then,  and  in  the  spirit  of  faith,  that 
we  turn  to  the  Epistles. 

1  To  record  the  points  on  which  the  Bible  was  formerly  attacked, 
marking  off  those  which  modern  research  has  disposed  of — this  is  a 
task  which  awaits  a  competent  pen.    And  when  the  book  is  written 
it  will  astonish  both  friends  and  foes. 

2  i  Cor.  xiv.  37. 


CHAPTER   IX 

•"  T  N  Christ's  grand  and  simple  creed,  expressed 
•^  in  His  plainest  words,  eternal  life  was  the 
assured  inheritance  of  those  who  loved  God  with 
all  their  hearts,  who  loved  their  neighbours  as 
themselves,  and  who  walked  purely,  humbly,  and 
beneficently  while  on  earth.  In  the  Christian 
sects  and  churches  of  to-day,  in  their  recognised 
formularies  and  elaborate  creeds,  all  this  is  repudi- 
ated as  infantine  and  obsolete  ;  the  official  means 
and  purchase-money  of  salvation  are  altogether 
changed  ;  eternal  life  is  reserved  for  those,  and  for 
those  only,  who  accept,  or  profess,  a  string  of 
metaphysical  propositions  conceived  in  a  scholastic 
brain  and  put  into  scholastic  phraseology  "  J 

To  any  one  who  aims  at  having  clear  thoughts 
and  well-based  beliefs  nothing  is  more  helpful  than 

1  W.  R.  Greg's  "  Creed  of  Christendom." 


THE  SILENCE  OF  GOD  97 

adverse  criticism.  Hence  the  value  of  the  words 
here  quoted.  They  may  be  taken,  moreover,  as 
expressing  the  opinions  of  a  large  and  important 
class  by  whom  the  writer,  though  no  longer  with 
us,  may  still  be  claimed  as  a  champion  and  repre- 
sentative. 

A  preliminary  question  which  presents  itself  is, 
Where  are  we  to  find  this  "grand  and  simple 
creed"  thus  commended  to  our  acceptance?  If, 
as  the  agnostic  tells  us,  the  Gospels  are  mere 
human  records,  what  can  be  sillier  than  to  appeal 
to  them  for  the  teaching  of  Christ !  It  was  a 
conceit  of  ancient  writers  to  put  long  speeches 
into  the  mouths  of  their  heroes,  and  the  discourses 
attributed,  to  the  Nazarene  fall  at  once  into  the 
category  of  romance.  But  we  are  told  that  while 
the  evangelists  are  not  to  be  trusted  when  they 
record  plain  events  of  which  they  were  eye- 
witnesses, like  the  miracles  of  Christ,  they  are 
to  be  believed  implicitly  when  they  profess  to 
record  verbatim  His  prolonged  discourses  !  If  the 
Gospels  be  Divinely  inspired,  agnosticism  is  sheer 
folly :  if  they  be  not  inspired,  our  faith  is  sheer 
superstition. 


9«  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

The  next  thought  which  these  words  suggest 
is  that  if  eternal  life  be  indeed  reserved  for  those 
whose  character  and  conduct  are  marked  by 
absolute  perfection,  the  whole  human  race  is 
doomed.  Perfect  love  to  God  and  man  is  a 
standard  which  excludes  even  the  saintliest  of 
saints,  and  common  men  may  at  once  dismiss  all 
hope  of  reaching  it.  And  yet  the  author  is  right. 
It  is  thus  and  only  thus  that  eternal  life  can  be 
inherited  by  any  child  of  Adam.  What  concerns 
us,  then,  is  to  inquire  whether  possibly  some  other 
road  to  blessing  may  be  open  to  us.  Agnosticism 
is  Greek  for  ignorance ;  may  we  not  hope  that 
this  particular  agnostic  is  true  to  his  name,  and 
that  Divine  love  goes  far  beyond  what  he  seems 
ever  to  have  realised  or  heard  of? 

The  statements  here  challenged  are  important 
as  showing  how  seriously  the  great  truth  of  the 
Reformation  is  prejudiced  by  the  very  prominence 
assigned  to  it  in  our  Protestant  system  of  theology. 
That  it  should  loom  great  in  our  estimation  is  but 
natural,  having  regard  to  the  fierceness  of  the 
struggle  to  which  we  owe  its  recovery.  And  yet 
the  dogma  that  justification  is  by  faith  is  but  a 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  99 

secondary  truth,  and  ancillary  to  another  of  wider 
range  and  more  transcendent  moment.  "  For  this 
cause  it  is  on  the  principle  of  faith,  that  it  may  be 
according  to  Grace."  z  GRACE  is  the  characteristic 
truth  of  Christianity.  According  to  the  great 
doctrinal  treatise  of  the  New  Testament,  we  are 
"justified  by  grace,"  "justified  by  faith,"  "justified 
by  blood  " — that  is,  by  the  death  of  Christ  in  its 
application  to  us,  for  such  is  the  meaning  of  the 
sacrificial  figure  of  which  the  word  "  blood  "  is 
the  expression  in  the  New  Testament.  Grace  is 
the  principle  on  which  God  justifies  a  sinner  ; 
faith  is  the  principle  on  which  the  benefit  is 
received  ;  and  the  death  of  Christ  is  the  ground 
on  which  alone  all  this  is  possible — we  are 
"  justified  freely  by  His  grace  through  the  re- 
demption that  is  in  Christ  Jesus."2 

And  they  who  are  thus  justified  can  urge  no 
claim  to  the  benefit  on  the  ground  either  of 
merit  or  of  promise.  For  if  we  could  earn  a  title 
to  it,  there  were  no  need  of  redemption  ;  and  if 

1  Aia  TOVTO  tic  7r(0T€w<;  <Va  Kara  X"i°lJ/  (Rom.  iv.  1 6).      Theology 
has  no  better  definition  of  grace  than  that  given  by  Aristotle  (Rhet. 
ii.  7). 

2  Rom.  iii.  24. 


TOO  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

God  had  pledged  Himself  by  covenant  to  grant 
it,  there  were  no  room  for  grace.  Grace  is 
sovereign,  but  it  is  free. 

There  are  two  alternative  principles  on  which 
alone  justification  is  now  theoretically  possible. 
The  one  is  by  man's  deserving  it  ;  the  other  is 
through  God's  unmerited  favour.  Let  a  man, 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  be  everything  he 
ought  to  be,  and  do  everything  he  ought  to  do  ; 
let  him,  as  our  author  puts  it,  love  God  with  all 
his  heart,  and  his  neighbour  as  himself ;  walking 
"  purely,  humbly,  and  beneficently  while  on  earth," 
and  such  an  one  will  "  inherit  eternal  life."  But 
all  such  pretensions  betoken  moral  and  spiritual 
ignorance  and  degradation.  All  men  are  sinners  ; 
and  being  sinners  they  are  absolutely  dependent 
upon  grace. 

Mr.  Greg's  words  are  based  on  the  incident  in 
our  Lord's  ministry  which  called  forth  the  parable 
of  "  The  Good  Samaritan."  "  A  certain  lawyer," 
desirous  of  testing  the  Saviour's  doctrine,  put  to 
Him  the  question,  "  Master,  what  shall  I  do  to 
inherit  eternal  life  ? "  He  had  heard  no  doubt 
that  the  great  Rabbi  was  heretical,  disparaging 


THE   SILENCE    OF    GOD  101 

the  law  of  Moses,  and  pointing  the  common  folk 
to  an  easy  bypath  to  life.  How  great  then  must 
have  been  his  surprise  when  he  got  answer, 
"  What  is  written  in  the  law  ?  How  readest  thou  ?  " 
In  response  he  repeated  the  well-known  words, 
so  familiar  to  every  Jew,  enjoining  love  to  God 
and  man.  And  surprise  must  have  grown  into 
astonishment  when  the  Saviour  added,  "  Thou 
hast  answered  right ;  this  do  and  thou  shalt 
live."  The  strictest  legalist  in  the  Sanhedrin 
could  find  no  flaw  in  teaching  such  as  that ! 
But  the  question  was,  how  a  man  could  inherit  life, 
and  to  such  a  question,  one  and  only  one  answer 
was  possible.  To  hide  his  confusion  the  lawyer  at 
once  proposed  a  further  question,  "  And  who  is  my 
neighbour  ?  "  thus  seeking  to  escape  upon  a  side 
issue,  as  is  the  way  with  lawyers  of  every  age. 
And  this  drew  from  the  Lord  that  exquisite  story 
which  has  taken  such  hold  upon  the  minds  of  men. 
The  Greek  word  for  "  neighbour  "  is  the  one  near, 
and  the  lawyer's  inquiry  implied  that  he  was  not 
bound  to  love  every  one  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact.  The  high-caste  Jew,  if  such  a  phrase  may 
be  allowed,  would  rather  die  than  owe  his  rescue 


102  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

to  a  Samaritan,  so  the  Lord  brings  a  Samaritan 
into  the  parable,  contrasts  his  conduct  with  that  of 
the  Levite  and  the  priest,  and  asks  which  of  the 
three  acted  as  neighbour  to  the  poor  wretch  whom 
the  robbers  had  left  half  dead  upon  the  roadside. 

Such  was  the  surface  teaching  of  the  parable,  but 
in  common  with  every  other  parable,  it  had  a 
hidden  and  spiritual  meaning.  He  had  answered 
the  inquiry  how  a  perfect  being  could  inherit  life  : 
He  now  unfolds  how  a  ruined  sinner  can  be  saved. 
The  traveller  upon  the  road  from  the  city  of  blessing 
to  the  city  of  the  curse  is  robbed  of  his  all,  and 
left  wounded  almost  to  death,  and  helpless.  A 
priest  and  a  Levite  pass  by.  Why  a  priest  and 
a  Levite  ?  Because  He  would  thus  impersonate  the 
law  and,  in  a  word,  religion.  These  could  help  a 
man  who  wras  able  to  help  himself,  but  for  the 
helpless  sinner  they  can  do  nothing.  "  But  a 
certain  Samaritan  came  where  he  was."  Why  a 
Samaritan  ?  Because  He  would  teach  that  the 
Saviour  is  One  whom,  but  for  his  ruin  and  misery, 
the  sinner  would  despise  and  repel.  "  And  " — let 
us  mark  the  words — "  when  he  saw  him  he  had 
compassion  on  him,  and  went  to  him,  and  bound 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  103 

up  his  wounds,  and  set  him  on  his  own  beast,  and 
brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  took  care  of  him  ; " 
and  at  the  inn  he  paid  the  reckoning,  and  made 
provision  for  his  future. 

In  every  detail  the  story  has  its  counterpart  in 
spiritual  truth.  It  tells  of  a  Saviour  who  saves ; 
who  comes  to  a  sinner  where  he  is  and  as  he  is  ; 
who  binds  up  wounds  that  are  deeper  and  more 
terrible  than  any  brigand's  knife  can  inflict  ;  who 
brings  him  out  of  the  place  of  danger  to  a  place  of 
security  and  peace,  and  provides  for  all  his  future 
needs.  And  all  this  without  bargain  or  condition, 
and  unconstrained  by  any  motive  save  His  own 
infinite  compassion. 

How  one  longs  that  honest-minded  men  like 
the  author  of  "The  Creed  of  Christendom"  could 
be  brought  at  least  to  hear  these  truths  and  to 
know  that  this  is  the  gospel  of  Christianity! 
Their  writings  give  proof  that  here  in  Christian 
England  there  are  persons  of  enlightenment  and 
culture  whose  most  legitimate  revolt  against 
priestcraft  and  everything  of  mere  religion  has 
thrown  them  back  into  pagan  darkness.  But  in 
the  midst  of  this  darkness  light  is  shining.  The 


104  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

agnostic's  version  of  "Christ's  grand  and  simple 
creed  "  would  make  Pharisees  of  some  men — and 
heaven  is  absolutely  closed  to  such — while  it 
would  relegate  mankind  in  general  to  the  position 
of  hopeless  and  desperate  outlawry.  But  Holy 
Scripture  testifies  that  "  Christ  died  for  the 
ungodly"  and  that  the  man  who  believes  in  Him 
is  justified. 

And  believing  in  Him  has  nothing  in  common 
with  "accepting  a  string  of  metaphysical  pro- 
positions." It  means  bowing  to  the  Divine 
judgment  upon  sin,  and  accepting  Christ  as 
Saviour  and  Lord.  Distrust  was  the  turning- 
point  in  the  creature's  fall,  for  the  overt  act 
of  sin  was  but  the  fruit  of  unbelief.  How 
natural,  then,  that  trust  should  be  the  turning- 
point  in  his  recovery !  There  was  a  time  in 
England  when  the  wearing  of  a  certain  flower 
was  the  recognised  avowal  of  loyalty  or  treason. 
And  this  was  a  mere  outward  act  which  might  be 
insincere,  whereas  a  man's  beliefs  are  part  and 
parcel  of  himself.  The  tragedy  of  Calvary  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  a  mere  incident  in 
history,  natural  in  the  circumstances,  and  fitted  to 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  105 

emphasise  and  enhance  the  dignity  of  man.  God 
points  to  it  as  the  world's  "  crisis,"  an  event  of  such 
stupendous  moment  that,  in  view  of  it,  indifference 
is  impossible.  He  who  died  there  does  not  seek  . 
either  our  pity  or  our  patronage:  He  claims  our 
faith.  It  is  a  question  of  personal  loyalty  to 
Himself. 

But  this  chapter  is  a  digression.     Let  us  turn  to 
the  teaching  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 


CHAPTER   X 

T^OSTSCRIPTS  are  proverbially  important, 
and  apostolic  postscripts  are  no  exception 
to  the  rule.  But  the  final  postscript  to  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  has  been  treated  with 
strange  neglect  by  theologians.  Witness  the 
extraordinary  carelessness  with  which  it  has 
been  translated  even  by  the  Revisers  of  1881  ! 
With  his  own  hand  it  was,  no  doubt,  that,  after 
his  secretary,  Tertius,  had  laid  down  the  pen,  the 
apostle  added  the  pregnant  words  which  end  the 
Epistle:  "Now  to  Him  that  is  able  to  stablish 
you  according  to  my  gospel  even  the  preaching 
of  Jesus  Christ  according  to  [the]  revelation  of  a 
mystery  which  hath  been  kept  in  silence  through 

times    eternal,    but    now    is    manifested    and    by 

106 


THE    SILENCE    OF   GOD  107 

prophetic  scriptures  according  to  the  command- 
ment of  the  Eternal  God  is  made  known  unto  all 
the  nations  unto  obedience  of  faith — to  the  only 
wise  God  through  Jesus  Christ  be  the  glory  for 
ever."  z 

"  MY  Gospel."  The  words,  three  times  repeated 
by  St.  Paul,2  are  no  mere  conventional  expression. 
They  are  explained  in  several  of  his  Epistles,3  and 
with  peculiar  definiteness  in  his  letter  to  the  Gala- 
tians.  He  there  declares  in  explicit  and  emphatic 
terms  that  the  gospel  which  he  preached  among  the 
Gentiles  was  the  subject  of  a  special  revelation 
peculiar  to  himself.  Not  only  was  he  not  taught 
it  by  those  who  were  apostles  before  him,  but  he  it 
was  who,  by  Divine  command,  communicated  it  to 
"  the  twelve" ;  and  this  was  not  until  his  second  visit 

1  Our  English  versions  have  distorted  the  passage,  first  by  a  punc- 
tuation (I  have  followed  Dean  Alford's),  which  makes  the  mystery  a 
characteristic  of  the  power  to  stablish  us,  whereas  it  characterises 
the  preaching  by  which  we  are  stablished  ;  and  secondly,  by  their 
rendering    of  the   words   cW<    re    ypatytiv    irpofyriTiKMv   (cf.     Matt, 
xxvi.   56,   "the  scriptures  of  the  prophets").     It  claims  notice  also 
that  both  "  revelation  "  and  "  mystery  "  are  anarthrous  ;  but  while  the 
English  idiom  seems  to  require  the  article  before  the  former  word, 
its  insertion  before  "mystery"  is  not  only  unnecessary,  but  mis- 
leading. 

2  Rom.  ii.  1 6,  xvi.  25  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  8. 

3  See,  e.g.,  Eph.  iii.;  Col.  i.  25,  26. 


io8  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

to  Jerusalem,  seventeen  years  after  his  conversion.1 
It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  his  testimony  was  essen- 
tially distinct  in  character  and  scope  from  anything 
we  shall  find  in  the  ministry  of  the  other  apostles, 
as  recorded  in  the  Acts.  And  this,  he  declares, 
they  themselves  acknowledged.  "They  saw,"  he 
says,  "that  the  gospel  of  the  uncircumcision  was 
committed  unto  me,  as  the  gospel  of  the  circum- 
cision was  unto  Peter."  2  The  latter  was  a  promise 
according  to  the  Scriptures  of  the  prophets  :  the 
former,  a  proclamation  according  to  the  revealing 
of  a  mystery  kept  secret  from  eternity,  but  now 
manifested  in  this  Christian  dispensation,  and  by 
prophetic  Scriptures  made  known  to  all  nations. 
What,  then,  were  those  writings?  What  the 
mystery  which  was  thus  revealed  ? 

The  rendering  of  the  passage  in  our  English 
versions  is  a  compromise  between  translation  and 
exegesis ;  and  that  the  exposition  thus  suggested 
is  erroneous  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  it  makes 
the  apostle's  statement  inconsistent  to  the  verge  of 
absurdity.  If  it  be  by  the  writings  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets  that  the  gospel  is  made  known  to  all  the 

1  Gal.  i.  n-ii.  12.  2  Ibid.  ii.  7. 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  109 

nations,  it  certainly  was  not  a  mystery  kept  secret 
through  all  .the  ages  !  The  words  "  by  prophetic 
writings"  refer,  of  course,  io  the  Scriptures  of  the 
New  Testament;  and  as  the  gospel  thus  made 
known  was  entrusted,  not  even  to  the  other 
apostles,  but  only  to  "  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles," 
it  is  again,  of  course,  to  the  Epistles  of  Paul  that 
we  must  'turn  to  seek  for  it.  Do  these  Epistles, 
then,  contain  any  great  characteristic  truth  or  truths 
which  cannot  be  found  in  the  earlier  Scriptures  ? 

Our  English  word  "  mystery  "  means  something 
which  is  either  incomprehensible  or  unknown  ;  but 
this  is  not  the  significance  of  the  Greek  musterion* 
In  its  primary  meaning  in  classical  and  Biblical 
Greek  it  is  simply  a  secret ;  and  a  secret  when  once 
disclosed  may  be  understood  by  any  one.  A  patent 
lock  is  a  "  mystery."  It  is  as  easily  opened  as  any 
other,  provided  we  have  the  proper  key,  but  without 
the  key  it  cannot  be  opened  at  all.  The  mysteries 
of  the  New  Testament  are  Divine  truths  which  till 
then  had  been  "kept  in  silence";  truths  which  had 
not  been  revealed  in  the  earlier  Scriptures,  and 
which,  until  revealed,  could  not  be  known.  Once. 
1  See  Appendix,  Note  V. 


no  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

and  once  only,  the  word  was  used  by  the  Lord 
Himself,  as  recorded  in  the  three  first  Gospels,  and 
it  occurs  four  times  in  the  Apocalypse.  But  with 
these  exceptions  it  is  found  only  in  St.  Paul's 
Epistles,  where  it  occurs  no  fewer  than  twenty 
times. 

In  some  of  these  passages  the  word  is  used  in  a 
secondary  sense.  In  others,  definite  secrets  are 
revealed.  And  notably  we  find  the  following : — 

The  mystery  of  Lawlessness,  culminating  in  the 
revelation  of  the  Lawless  One.1 

The  mystery  that  at  the  coming  of  the  Lord  some 
of  His  people  will  pass  to  heaven,  as  Elijah  did, 
"with  death  untasted  and  the  grave  unknown."2 

The  mystery  that  in  the  present  dispensation 
believers  are  united  to  Christ  in  a  special  relation- 
ship as  members  of  a  body  of  which  He  Himself  is 
the  head.s 

Here,  then,  we  have  specific  "mysteries"  respect- 
ing which  the  earlier  Scriptures  are  silent;  and  it 
may  be  added  that,  though  now  revealed,  they  are 

1  2  Thess.  ii.  7,  8.     Within  the  Church,  of  course.     Lawlessness 
in  the  world  is  as  old  as  sin. 

2  i  Cor.  xv.  51.      3  Eph.  iii.4,6,  v.  30,  32  ;   I  Cor.  xii.  12,  13,  &c. 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  in 

still  unknown  to  the  majority  of  Christians.  But 
these  are  truths  essentially  for  the  believer,  whereas 
the  "  mystery "  of  the  apostle's  postscript  is  em- 
phatically a  truth  for  ALL — a  truth  to  be  "made 
known  to  all  the  nations  for  the  obedience  of 
faith." 

The  apostle's  statement,  however,  assumes  that 
his  words  would  be  understood  by  those  to  whom 
they  were  addressed.  Therefore,  as  he  had  never 
personally  visited  Rome,  we  may  confidently  turn 
to  the  Epistle  itself  to  find  within  it  the  truth 
referred  to. 

First,  then,  it  is  a  mystery  truth — a  truth  which 
till  then  had  been  "kept  in  silence."  Secondly,  it  is 
a  truth  of  universal  scope  and  application.  And 
thirdly,  it  is  a  truth  to  be  found  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans.  With  these  clews  to  guide  us  there 
can  be  no  difficulty  in  fixing  upon  the  truth  which 
is  here  in  question  ;  for  one,  and  only  one,  will 
satisfy  these  requirements. 

In  common  with  some  other  great  truths  of  the 
Christian  faith  Reconciliation  has  received  but  scant 
notice  from  theologians.  Many  a  page  might  be 
filled  with  quotations  from  standard  books  which 


112  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

either  misrepresent  or  deny  it.  But  all  attempts  to 
oust  it  from  our  creeds  rest,  as  Archbishop  Trench 
declares,  "on  a  foregone  determination  to  get  rid 
of  the  reality  of  God's  anger  against  sin."1  Sin  not 
merely  alienated  man  from  God,  it  alienated  God 
from  man.  A  just  and  holy  God  could  not  but 
regard  him  as  an  enemy.  But  "  while  we  were 
enemies  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of 
His  Son."  And  "  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ " 
they  who  believe  "  have  now  received  the  recon- 
ciliation."2 "All  things  are  of  God  who  reconciled 
us  to  Himself  through  Christ,  and  gave  unto  us  the 
ministry  of  the  reconciliation,  to  wit,  that  God  was 
in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  not 
reckoning  unto  them  their  trespasses,  and  having 
committed  unto  us  the  word  of  the  reconciliation. 
We  are  ambassadors,  therefore,  on  behalf  of  Christ," 
the  apostle  adds,  "  as  though  God  were  entreating 
by  us,  we  beseech  men  on  behalf  of  Christ,  '  be  ye 
reconciled  to  God  '"  3 — an  appeal  to  the  sinner,  not, 

1  "  Synonyms,"  Part  II.  p.  123.  2  Rom.  v.  10,  n. 

3  2  Cor.  v.  18-20.  This  passage  is  inseparably  associated  in  my 
mind  with  an  incident  once  narrated  to  me  by  the  late  Sir  Robert 
Lush.  When  Serjeant  Wilkins  returned  to  the  Law  Courts  after  an 
illness  which  practically  ended  his  career,  Mr.  Lush  (as  he  then  was 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  113 

as  too  commonly  represented,  to  forgive  his  God, 
but  to  come  within  the  unsought  benefit  which 
God  in  His  infinite  grace  has  accomplished.  For 
(the  apostle  further  adds)  "Him  who  knew  no  sin 
He  made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf,  that  we  might 
become  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him."  I 

Words  could  not  be  simpler,  and  yet,  as  already 
noticed,  the  truth  so  plainly  taught  is  in  many 
quarters  perverted  or  denied.  Just  as  in  our  day 
there  are  doctrinaire  philanthropists  who  talk  of 
crime  as  though  it  were  nothing  but  a  natural  eccen- 
tricity of  weak  natures,  so  there  are  theologians  who 
delight  in  such  representations  of  sin  that  if  provi- 
sion had  not  been  made  for  it  in  the  Divine  economy 
the  omission  would  be  entirely  to  the  discredit  of 

saw  him  sitting  with  his  face  in  his  hands,  and  he  noticed  that  tears 
were  falling  from  between  his  fingers.  The  Serjeant  was  not  of  his 
acquaintance,  but  when  he  saw  him  'hurriedly  leave  the  court,  he 
followed  him,  and  delicately  referring  to  what  he  had  seen,  he  asked 
if  he  was  in  any  trouble  in  which  he  could  be  of  service  to  him.  The 
Serjeant  gratefully  acknowledged  his  kindness,  but  explained  his 
seeming  distress  by  the  fact  that  the  words  above  quoted,  which  he 
had  been  reading  that  morning,  had  come  back  to  his  mind  as  he  sat 
in  court,  and  he  could  not  restrain  his  emotion.  The  incident  will  be 
appreciated  by  those  who  know  the  sort  of  man  he  was.  Suffice  it 
to  say  it  had  not  been  his  habit  to  read  the  Bible.  But  how  many 
such  there 'are  who  turn  to  it  in  times  of  sickness  or  trouble  ! 
1  Cor.  v.  18-21. 

9 


ii4  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

the  Deity.  Others,  again,  so  fritter  away  the  great 
truths  of  Divine  love  to  the  world  and  the  recon- 
ciliation of  the  world  to  God  through  Christ,  that 
the  sovereignty  of  God  degenerates  into  mere 
favouritism,  and  the  death  of  Christ  is  no  more 
than  a  means  by  which  the  favoured  few  can  attain 
the  blessing. 

This  great  truth  of  Reconciliation  will  be  sought 
in  vain  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  The 
revelation  of  it,  indeed,  was  impossible  so  long  as 
the  Jew  held  the  position  which  he  forfeited  by 
rejecting  the  Messiah.  Reading  the  Gospel  of 
John  in  the  light  of  the  Epistles  we  can  discern  it 
in  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  ;  but  without  that 
light  no  one  would  dare  to  formulate  it.  To  the 
Jew,  indeed,  the  doctrine  must  have  been  astound- 
ing, and  even  among  Christians  it  is  received  with 
hesitation  and  reserve.  But  the  difficulties  which 
beset  the  exposition  of  the  fifth  chapter  of  Romans 
relate  only  to  the  argument.  The  doctrine  it  teaches 
is  unequivocally  clear.  "  As  through  one  trespass 
[the  result  was]  unto  all  men  to  condemnation  ; 
even  so  through  one  act  of  righteousness  [the  result 
was]  unto  all  men  to  justification  of  life."  If  words 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  115 

have  any  meaning  this  declares  that  the  death  of 
Christ  had  effects  as  widespread  and  universal  as  the 
sin  of  Adam.  If  that  sin  "  brought  death  into  the 
world,  and  all  our  woe,"  so  the  great  dikaioma 
brought  justification  of  life  to  all  men  in  so  far  as 
the  Eden  trespass  brought  condemnation  to  them. 
But  the  work  of  Christ  goes  infinitely  further 
than  this.  The  Eden  trespass  ushered  in  the  reign 
of  sin.  "  Sin  reigned  unto  death."  "  The  wages  of 
sin  is  death,"  and  sin  claimed  the  very  throne  of 
God  as  an  agency  for  enforcing  its  just  demands. 
But  Calvary  has  dethroned  sin,  and  grace  now 
reigns  supreme.  And  this  not  at  the  expense  of 
righteousness,  but  through  righteousness.  And  as 
sin  reigned  unto  death,  so  grace  now  reigns  unto 
eternal  life.  Or,  getting  behind  the  magnificent 
imagery  of  the  Epistle,  we  grasp  the  amazing  truth 
that  the  Divine  attitude  toward  men  is  one  of  uni- 
versal beneficence.  It  is  not  that  the  Gentile  has 
attained  to  the  special  position  of  privilege  from 
which  the  Jew  has  fallen,  for  apart  from  "the 
household  of  faith "  there  is  no  favoured  people 
now.  "  There  is  no  distinction  between  Jew  and 
Greek,  for  the  same  Lord  is  Lord  of  all,  and  is 


ii6  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  Him  ;  for  whosoever 
shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
saved."  J  Eternal  life  is  thus  brought  within  reach 
of  every  human  being  to  whom  this  testimony 
•  comes.2  How,  then,  is  it  possible  that  so  few 
receive  the  benefit  ?  The  answer  to  this  question 
claims  a  chapter  to  itself. 

1  Rom.  x.  12  (R.V.). 

2  Such  a  statement  will  be  resented  by  that  school  of  religious 
thought  which  boasts   as  its  founder   one   of   the  greatest  of  the 
Church's  teachers.      But  let  us  appeal  from  the  disciples  to  their 
master.     Here  is  Calvin's  commentary  upon  the  verse  above  quoted 
(Rom.  v.  1 8).     "  He  makes  this  favour  common  to  all  because  it  is 
propounded  to  all,  and   not  because    it  is  in  reality  extended   to 
all ;  for  though  Christ  suffered  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  and 
is  offered  through  God's  benignity  indiscriminately  to  all,  yet  all 
do  not  receive  Him." 

And  the  following  extract  from  his  commentary  on  the  third 
chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  is  no  less  apposite.  Referring 
to  the  sixteenth  verse  he  says  :  "  Christ  employed  the  universal  term 
•whosoever  both  to  invite  indiscriminately  all  to  partake  of  life,  and 
to  cut  off  every  excuse  from  unbelievers.  Such  is  the  import  of  the 
term  world.  Though  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  that  is  worthy  of 
God's  favour,  yet  He  shows  Himself  to  be  reconciled  to  the  whole 
world  when  He  invites  all  men  without  exception  to  the  faith  of 
Christ,  which  is  nothing  else  than  an  entrance  into  life." 

And  if  any  one  ask,  How,  then,  is  Judgment  possible  ?  the  answer 
is  that  Judgment  is  based  upon  this  very  truth.  See  c.  xii.  post. 


CHAPTER   XI 

F^HE  devil  of  Christendom  is  a  myth.  Just  as 
human  fancy,  working  on  a  basis  of  fact  and 
truth,  has  impersonated  an  object  for  its  worship, 
so  by  a  like  process  it  has  created  a  scapegoat  to 
account  for  the  crimes  and  vices  of  humanity.  A 
mythical  Jesus  is  the  Buddha  of  Christendom  ;  a 
mythical  Satan  is  its  bogey.  In  the  one  case  as 
in  the  other  a  gulf  separates  the  myth  from  the 
reality. 

The  Satan  of  Christian  mythology  is  a  monster 
of  wickedness,  the  instigator  to  every  crime  of 
exceptional  brutality  or  loathsome  lust.  The  Satan 
of  Scripture  is  the  awful  being  who  dared  to  offer 
his  patronage  to  our  Divine  Lord.  When  a  man  is 

led  into  evil  courses  "  he  is  drawn  away  by  his  own 

117 


u8  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

lust."  x  The  human  heart,  our  Lord  Himself  de- 
clares, is  the  vile  spring  from  which  immoralities 
and  crimes  proceed.  2  Using  the  word  "  immoral  " 
in  its  narrow,  popular  sense,  there  is  no  basis  for 
the  belief  that  Satan  ever  provokes  to  an  immoral 
act.  Indeed,  if  we  leave  out  of  account  his  incite- 
ments aimed  against  Christ  personally,  the  solitary 
instance  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  alone  affords  a 
pretext  for  asserting  that  he  ever  tempted  any 
one  to  do  anything  which  human  judgment  would 
condemn.  3 

This  statement  may  seem  startling,  but  it  is  true, 
and  its  truth  can  be  established.  Of  the  unseen 
world  we  know  absolutely  nothing  beyond  what 
Scripture  reveals :  to  the  Scriptures,  therefore,  we 
must  turn.  And  here  the  Old  Testament  is 
eloquent  by  reason  of  its  silence.  If  the  popular 
belief  were  well  founded,  is  it  possible  that  from 
Genesis  to  Malachi  not  a  word  could  be  found  in 
support  of  it?  In  three  passages  only  is  Satan 
mentioned.  The  first  describes  the  fall  of  man,  and 
there  the  entire  aim  of  the  tempter  was  to  alienate 

1  James  i.  14  ~  Mark  vii.  21. 

3  See  Appendix,  Note  VI. 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  119 

the  creature  from  God.  In  the  role  of  philan- 
thropist he  appeared  to  our  first  parents,  and  sowed 
in  their  hearts  the  seeds  of  distrust.1  The  next 
passage  describes  his  assaults  on  Job,  and  here 
again  his  only  aim  was  to  lead  the  patriarch 
to  doubt  the  Divine  goodness. 2  And  the  third 
narrates  that  mysterious  incident  in  which  he 
sought  to  hinder  the  high  priest  Joshua  in  the 
discharge  of  his  sacred  office.  3 

When  we  turn  to  the  New  Testament  we  must 
avoid  the  popular  error  of  confounding  Satan  with 
the  angels  that  "  kept  not  their  own  principality, 
but  left  their  own  habitation."  4  These  are  in 
bonds,  awaiting  "  the  judgment  of  the  great  day." 
They  have  no  part  in  the  course  of  human  affairs. 
Demons,  again,  are  beings  of  a  wholly  different 
order.  It  is  assumed  that  they  are  subordinate  to 

1   Gen.  ii.  ~  Job  i.  ;  ii. 

3  Zech.  iii.   I,  2.     In  I  Chron.  xxi.  i  and  Psa.  cix.  6,  the  word 
rendered  Satan  in  A.V.   is  merely  an  adversary.     And    I  cannot 
avail  myself  of  Isa.  xiv.  12,  &c. ,  and  Ezek.  xxviii.  14,  &c. ,  much  as 
they  would  help  me,  because  there  is  no  way  of  ascertaining  certainly 
whether  Satan  is  there  intended.      I  have  no  doubt  of  it  myself. 
The  word  Devil  does  not  occur  in  the  Old  Testament.     In  the  four 
places   where    "Devils"   is  used  in   A.V.  the  R.V.   adopts  other 
words. 

4  Jude  6 ;  2  Pet.  ii.  4. 


120  THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD 

the  devil,  and  as  some  of  them  are  expressly 
called  "  unclean  spirits,"  uncleanness  is  attri- 
buted to  Satan.  But  the  assumption  is  based 
only  upon  Jewish  beliefs,  and,  even  if  a  true 
one,  the  inference  is  forced.  A  ruler  may 
have  vicious  subjects  and  yet  not  himself  be 
vicious !  I 

But  are  not  sins  described  as  "  the  works  of  the 
devil  "  ?  And  what  of  the  words, "  He  that  doeth  sin 
is  of  the  devil"?  Will  the  objector  consider  the 
definition  of  sin  to  which  this  refers — one  of  the 
only  definitions  in  the  Bible  ?  "  Sin  is  lawlessness."2 
The  possession  of  an  independent  will  is  man's 
proud  but  perilous  boast.  His  duty  and  safety 
and  happiness  alike  demand  that  this  will  shall 
be  subordinated  to  the  will  of  God,  and  all  revolt 
against  the  Divine  will  is  sin.  Lawlessness  is  its 

1  In  Matt.  xii.  24-27,  our  Lord  neither  adopted  nor  rejected  the 
Jewish  belief.     How  grotesque  is  the  suggestion  that  at  such  a  time 
He  should  have  discoursed  to  them  on  demonology  !     Passing  the 
subject   by,   He   turned    their    taunt    back    upon    themselves    by 
the   words,    "If  I  by  Beelzebub  cast   out   demons,   by  whom  do 
your  sons  cast  them  out  ?  "      Unless  the  phenomena  described  by 
spiritualists  may  be  explained  by  delusions  or  fraud,  they  must  be 
attributed  to  demons;   and  there  seems  strong  reason  to  believe 
that  some  men  are  possessed  by  "  unclean  "  demons. 

2  i  John  iii.  4  (R.V.). 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  121 

essence;  the   element   of    immorality   is    entirely 
accidental. 

And  this  explains  the  apostolic  comment  upon 
the  precept  "  Be  angry  and  sin  not."  x  Anger  may 
in  itself  be  right.  But  if  cherished  it  is  apt  to 
degenerate  into  vindictiveness ;  and  thus  what  in 
its  inception  may  betoken  fellowship  with  God— 
for  "  God  is  angry  every  day " 2 — may  lead  to 
thoughts  and  even  acts  which  are  only  evil.  There- 
fore the  apostle  adds,  "  Let  not  the  sun  go  down 
upon  your  wrath,  neither  give  occasion  to  the 
devil."  The  Satan  myth  leads  men  to  read  this 
as  though  it  were  no  more  than  a  warning  against 
homicidal  violence.  But  the  closing  passage  of 
this  same  Epistle  3  gives  proof  that  the  apostle's 
theology  of  Satanic  temptations  relates  to  a  far 
different  sphere.  The  normal  conflict  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  begins  where  the  struggle  with  "  flesh 
and  blood "  has  ceased.  It  is  in  the  spiritual 
sphere,  and  not  in  the  domain  of  morals,  that  the 
panoply  of  God  is  needed.  The  Pharisee  or  the 

1  Eph.  iv.  26.     The  words  are  quoted  verbatim  from  Psa.  iv.  4 
(LXX). 

2  Psa.  vii.  ii.  3  Eph.  vi.  10-20. 


122  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

Buddhist  can  boast  as  high  a  standard  of  morality 
as  the  Christian.  Their  motives  may  be  lower,  but 
the  outward  results  are  the  same.  When  some 
man  of  repute  is  betrayed  into  acts  of  shame  the 
devil  would  be  held  accountable  for  his  fall  in  any 
ecclesiastical  court.  But  not  at  the  Old  Bailey, 
where  prejudice  avails  nothing,  and  proof  must  be 
full  and  clear.  No  one  may  assert  that  Satan 
might  not  stoop  to  such  means  to  attain  his  ends, 
but  we  may  aver  that  no  "  previous  conviction  " 
is  recorded  to  his  prejudice. 

"  But,"  the  objector  will  indignantly  demand, 
"did  not  our  Lord  Himself  denounce  him  as  a 
liar  and  a  murderer  ?  "  Yes  truly,  such  were  his 
words  to  the  Pharisees  who  were  plotting  His 
death.  But  what  is  their  significance?  Let  us 
consider  them  with  open  minds,  for  the  Satan 
myth  has  so  obscured  their  meaning  that  the 
commentaries  will  not  help  us.  To  the  Jews'  vain 
boast  of  their  descent  from  Abraham,  the  Lord 
replied  that  the  patriarch's  children  would  walk  in 
their  father's  ways  ;  but  as  for  them,  they  sought 
to  kill  Him  because  he  had  spoken  to  them  God- 
given  truth.  They  then  fell  back  upon  that  fig- 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  123 

ment  of  the  apostate,  the  fatherhood  of  God,  thus 
bringing  on  themselves  the  scathing  words,  "  Ye 
are  of  your  father  the  devil,  and  the  desires  of 
your  father  it  is  your  will  to  do.  He  was  a 
murderer  from  the  beginning  and  has  not  stood 
in  the  truth  because  truth  is  not  in  him.  When 
he  speaketh  THE  lie  he  speaketh  of  his  own, 
for  he  is  a  liar  and  the  father  of  IT."  I  These, 
remember,  are  not  words  of  vulgar  invective. 
They  are  the  words  of  Christ  Himself  to  men  of 
character  and  repute,  honourable  and  earnest  men 
who,  under  their  responsibilities  as  the  religious 
leaders  of  the  people,  deplored  His  teaching  as 
pestilent  and  profane.  Such  language  addressed 
by  such  lips  to  such  men  is  awful  in  its  solemnity  ; 
but  what  does  it  mean? 

The  devil  was  "  a  murderer  from  the  beginning." 
The  beginning  of  what  ?  Not  of  his  own  ex- 
istence, surely,  for  he  was  created  in  perfection 
and  beauty.  Nor  yet  of  the  Eden  paradise,  for 
Satan  had  dragged  down  others  in  his  ruin  long 
before  our  earth  became  the  home  of  man.  His 
being  a  murderer  connects  itself  immediately  with 

1  John  viii.  44.     See  Appendix,  Note  VII. 


124  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

THE  truth  which  he  has  refused  and  THE  lie  of 
which  he  is  the  father.  As  we  listen  to  these 
solemn  and  mysterious  words  of  our  Divine  Lord 
we  are  accorded  a  glimpse  into  a  past  eternity 
when  the  great  mystery  of  God  was  first  made 
known  to  "  principalities  and  powers,"  the  great 
intelligences  of  the  heavenly  world.1  Greatest 
of  them  all  was  the  being  whom  now  we  know  as 
Satan,  and  the  promulgation  of  the  purpose  of 
the  ages  disclosed  to  him  the  fact  that  a  First-born 
was  yet  to  be  revealed  who  was  "  in  all  things  to 
have  the  pre-eminence." 

Science  has  poured  contempt  upon  the  old 
belief  that  man  is  the  centre  of  the  universe. 
And  yet  the  old  belief  was  right.  But  He  who 
claims  this  transcendent  dignity  is  not  the  man 
of  Eden — "  vain  insect  of  an  hour  !  " — but  the 
Man  who  is  "  the  Lord  from  Heaven."  And  He 

1  This  is  probably  the  explanation  of  the  "  coincidences  "  between 
Christianity  and  some  of  the  old  religions  of  the  world.  I  do  not 
allude  to  Buddhism,  for  its  seeming  "coincidences"  admit  of  a 
much  more  prosaic  explanation  (see,  e.g.,  Professor  Kellogg's  work 
referred  to  at  p.  68  ante,  note)  but  to  the  cult  of  Tammuz  and 
ancient  Babylon.  Scripture  warns  us  that  in  the  future  Satan  will 
travesty  the  Divine  mysteries  ;  is  it  strange  if  he  has  done  so  in  the 
past? 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  125 

it  is  who  is  the  object  of  the  devil's  hate.  In 
compassing  the  fall  of  Adam  he  may  perchance 
have  imagined  that  he  was  the  promised  first-born. 
But  it  was  not  till  the  Temptation  of  Christ  Him- 
self that  Satan  and  his  lie  were  at  last  revealed. 
Not  one  person  in  a  thousand  of  those  who  read 
the  record  of  it  attempts  to  realise  its  significance. 
How  could  the  Satan  of  Christendom  dare  to 
stand  before  the  Lord  of  Glory  !  And  how  could 
the  suggestions  of  such  a  loathsome  monster  be 
anything  but  hateful  and  repulsive  ?  Suppose  the 
biographer  of  some  noble-minded  and  holy  woman 
sought  to  emphasise  the  purity  of  her  mind  and 
the  steadfastness  of  her  character  by  recording 
that  she  was  once  closeted  with  a  man  well  known 
to  her  as  a  coarse  and  shameless  libertine,  and 
yet  passed  through  the  ordeal  unscathed  !  No  less 
preposterous  does  the  narrative  of  the  temptation 
appear  if  we  read  it  in  the  false  light  of  the 
Satan  myth.1 

The  Satan  of  Scripture  is  a  being  who  claimed 
to  meet  our  Lord  on  more  than  equal  terms. 
Having  "  led  Him  up "  and  given  Him  that 

1  See  Appendix,  Note  VI. 


126  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

mysterious  vision  of  earthly  sovereignty,  "  the 
devil  said  unto  Him,"  we  read,  "  To  Thee  will 
1  give  all  this  authority  and  the  glory  of  them; 
for  it  hath  been  delivered  unto  me,  and  to  whom- 
soever I  will  I  give  it.  If  thou  therefore  wilt 
worship  before  me  it  shall  all  be  thine." 

Is  this  no  more  than  the  raving  of  irresponsible 
,  madness  or  impious  profanity?  It  is  the  bold 
assertion  of  a  disputed  right.  Satan  claims  to 
be  the  First-born,  the  rightful  heir  of  creation, 
the  true  Messiah,  and  as  such  he  claims  the 
worship  of  mankind.  Men  dream  of  a  devil, 
horned  and  hoofed — a  hideous  and  obscene 
monster  —  who  haunts  the  squalid  slums  and 
gilded  vice-dens  of  our  cities,  and  tempts  the 
depraved  to  acts  of  atrocity  or  shame.  But, 
according  to  Holy  Writ,  he  "  fashions  himself 
into  an  angel  of  light,"  and  "  his  ministers  fashion 
themselves  as  ministers  of  righteousness."  I  Do 
"  ministers  of  righteousness"  corrupt  men's  morals 
or  incite  them  to  commit  outrages  ? 

And    this    prepares    the    way    for    the    further 
statement    that   it   is    the    religion    of   the    world 

1  2  Cor.  xi.  14. 


THE   SILENCE    OF   GOD  127 

which  he  controls,  and  not  its  vices  and  its  crimes. 
"  The  god  of  this  world  "  is  his  awful  title — a  title 

o 

Divinely  conceded  to  the  Evil  One,  not  because 
the  Supreme  has  delegated  His  sovereignty,  but 
because  the  world  accords  him  its  homage.  It 
is  in  the  sphere  of  religion,  then,  that  the  influence 
of  the  Tempter  is  to  be  sought  —  not  in  the 
records  of  our  criminal  courts,  not  in  the  pages 
of  obscene  novels,  but  in  the  teaching  of  false 
theologies. 

The  lie  of  which  he  is  the  father  is  the  denial 
of  the  Christ  of  God,  the  Christ  of  Calvary,  the 
only  mediator  between  God  and  men,  the  pro- 
pitiation for  the  world's  sins — the  "  mercy-seat "  z 
where  an  outcast  sinner  can  meet  a  holy  God 
and  find  pardon  and  peace.  But  "  the  god  of  this 
world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  the  unbelieving 
that  the  light  of  the  gospel  of  the  glory  of  Christ, 
who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  not  dawn  upon 
them."  2  Hence  it  is  that  men  turn  to  the  Church, 


1  In    I  John   ii.    2,  and   iv.   10  He   is  called  the  iXa^ot,-.      In 
Rom.   iii.  25  He  is  called  the  \\aGTt]piov  (mercy-seat).     The  word 
occurs  but  once  again  in  the  New  Testament,  i.e.,  Heb.  ix.  5. 

2  2  Cor.  iv.  4(R.Vr). 


128  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

to  religion,  to  morality,  to  "  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount" — making  the  Lord  Himself  minister  to 
their  self-righteousness  and  pride — in  a  word,  to 
anything  and  everything  rather  than  to  the  Cross 
of  Christ. 

What  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  planet 
Neptune  was  the  apparent  disturbance  from  some 
unknown  cause  in  the  movements  of  other  planets. 

And  have  we  not  reason   to  search  for  a  "  Nep- 
| 
tune"    in    the   spiritual   sphere  ?     Is    it   not   clear 

that  there  is  some  sinister  influence  in  operation 
here  ?  How  else  can  it  be  explained  that  in 
the  full  light  of  our  advanced  civilisation,  even 
persons  of  the  highest  intelligence  and  culture  are 
gulled  by  the  tricks  and  superstitions  which  form 
the  stock-in-trade  of  priestcraft  ? 

But  "  the  lie "  has  other  phases.  The  mind  of 
the  Tempter  is  disclosed  no  less  in  some  of  our 
most  popular  books  of  piety.  Eternal  judgment 
and  a  hell  for  the  impenitent,  redemption  by  blood, 
and  the  need  of  salvation  through  the  death  of  the 
great  Sin-bearer — these  and  kindred  doctrines  are 
rejected  as  survivals  of  a  dark  and  credulous  age : 
it  is  for  man  to  work  out  his  own  destiny,  and  to 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  129 

raise  himself  to  the  Divine  ideal.  And  all  this  is 
prefaced  and  made  plausible  by  boldly  insinuating 
that  plain  words  Divinely  spoken  are  either  mis- 
understood or  spurious.  A  new  gospel  some  men 
call  this  :  it  is  the  oldest  gospel  known.  In  every 
point  it  reminds  us  of  the  old,  old  words  :  "  Hath 
God  said  ?  "  "  Ye  shall  not  surely  die  :  "  "  Ye  shall 
be  as  gods  knowing  good  and  evil."  The  "  Jesus  " 
of  this  theology  bears  a  sinister  resemblance  to 
the  great  philanthropist  of  Eden  !  In  the  name 
of  that  "  other  Jesus  "  *  the  Christ  of  God  would  be 
again  rejected  if  He  returned  to  earth  to-day. 

During  His  ministry  on  earth  the  Lord's  acts  and 
words  to  the  fallen  and  depraved  led  to  His  being 
branded  as  the  friend  of  the  dishonest  and  the  im- 
moral. And  why?  This  question  is  best  answered 
by  another :  Did  He  not  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
the  lost?  How  then  could  He  drive  them  from 
His  presence  ?  A  strange  Saviour  such  would  be  ! 
Sin  He  could  not  tolerate,  but  for  sinners  His  love 
and  pity  were  infinite.  And  His  detractors  mis- 
took sympathy  with  sinners  for  sympathy  with  sin. 
But  when  men  refused  to  own  that  they  were  lost, 

1  2  Cor.  xi.  4. 
10 


130  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

and  separated  themselves  from  Him  by  an  impass- 
able barrier  of  religion  and  morality,  infinite  love 
was  powerless.  Omnipotence  itself  was  baffled  ! 
And  He  who  had  wept  in  silence  in  presence  of 
human  sorrow  gave  way  to  unrestrained  outbursts 
of  grief  as  He  contemplated  their  doom.1 

On  yet  another  occasion  He  exclaimed,  "  How 
often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together 
as  a  hen  gathers  her  brood  under  her  wings,  and 
ye  would  not'' 2  The  hand  stretched  out  to  save 
them  they  thrust  from  them  with  obliquy.  And 
what  wonder  !  Men  of  blameless  morality,  of  the 
deepest  piety,  of  intense  devotion  to  religion  — 
men  looked  up  to  and  respected  by  the  people, 
who  acknowledged  them  as  leaders,  were  told 
that  the  degraded  and  depraved  had  better  hopes 
of  heaven  than  themselves.  His  teaching  was  a 
public  scandal  ;  His  mission  was  an  insult  to  them. 
And  all  truth  and  decency  were  outraged  when 
He  openly  called  them  "  children  of  hell,"  and 
told  them  they  had  the  devil  for  their  father ! 

1  In  John  xi.  35  the  word  used  betokens  silent  tears.     The  word 
in  Luke  xix.  41  means  to  lament  with  every  outward  expression  of 
grief. 

2  Luke  xiii.  34. 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  131 

When  a  malignant  tumour  is  eating  at  the 
vitals  the  tenderness  of  the  physiciajn  is  useless  ; 
the  surgeon's  knife  must  reach  the  mischief,  let 
the  risk  be  what  it  may.  And  surely  if  He 
who  was  so  gracious,  so  "  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart,"  spoke  such  scathing  words  as  these,  it  was 
because  no  tenderer  treatment  could  avail.  It  was 
because  their  own  case  was  desperate,  and  their 
influence  was  disastrous.  And  such  men  must 
have  successors  and  representatives  on  earth 
to-day.  Who  are  they,  then,  and  where  ?  Let 
the  thoughtful  reader  work  out  the  answer  for 
himself.  But  let  him  keep  in  view  the  factors  of 
the  problem.  It  was  not  the  "  publicans  and 
harlots  "  who  were  branded  thus  as  hell-begotten. 
Alas  for  human  nature,  no  devil  was  needed  to 
account  for  the  sins  of  such  !  But  to  the  religious 
Jews  it  was  that  these  awful  words  were  spoken. 
And  why  ?  Because  the  Satan  cult  is  to  be  sought 
for,  not  in  pagan  orgies,  but  in  the  acceptance  of 
the  Eden  gospel,  and  the  pursuit  of  religious 
systems,  which  honour  man  and  dishonour  Christ. 

Here,  then,  is  the  answer  to  the  question  pro- 
pounded at  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter. 


CHAPTER   XII 

T7VERYBODY  knows  the  little  girl  who, 
-• — '  having  heard  her  father  complain  that 
his  watch  needed  cleaning,  stole  away  to  clean 
it  in  a  basin  of  soap-suds !  The  story  is  but  a 
grotesquely  exaggerated  instance  of  what  we  all 
suffer  from — ignorant  zeal,  unintelligent  desire 
to  please.  No  one  but  a  brute  would  vent  his 
anger  on  his  baby,  when,  with  eyes  sparkling  and 
cheeks  flushed  at  the  thought  of  having  done  a 
kind  and  useful  service,  she  brings  him  his  ruined 
watch.  But  if  this  were  done  by  one  who  ought 
to  have  known  better,  no  such  restraint  would  be 
called  for.  To  this  every  one  will  assent ;  but  no 
one  seems  to  take  account  of  similar  considerations 

in  our  relations  with  the  Deity. 

132 


THE   SILENCE    OF    GOD  133 

"  The  chief  end  of  man  is  to  glorify  and  enjoy 
himself  for  ever."  Such  is  the  present-day  reading 
of  the  first  great  thesis  in  the  catechism  of  the 
Westminster  Divines.1  And  to  attain  this  end 
man  wants  a  religion  and  a  god,  just  as  a  prince 
needs  a  private  chaplain.  But  a  chaplain  should 
know  his  place,  and  not  intrude  where  his  presence 
would  be  embarrassing.  And  so  with  God.  It  is 
intolerable  that  He  should  claim  to  decide  in  what 
way  alone  we  can  please  Him.  In  leading  moral 
and  religious  lives  we  "  render  to  God  the  things 
that  are  God's."  And  we  must  not  forget  what  is 
due  to  ourselves.  But  "  the  chief  end  of  man  is  to 
glorify  GOD."  This  is  what  the  Westminster 
Divines  really  wrote  ;  but  that  was  long  ago,  and 
the  Westminster  Divines  were  ignorant,  and  knew 
nothing  of  "  the  gospel  of  humanity  "  ! 

In  a  word,  God  claims  our  homage,  and  we  offer 
Him  our  patronage.  He  claims  the  undivided 
devotion  of  our  life,  and  we  offer  Him  religion  and 


*  "The  Scotch  Catechism"  it  is  commonly  called,  as  though 
Westminster  were  somewhere  north  of  the  Tweed  !  This  cate- 
chism was  compiled  by  pious  and  learned  "  Dons"  of  Cambridge 
University,  and  adopted  by  "an  assembly  of  learned  and  godly 
divines "  convened  in  Westminster  Abbey. 


134  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

morality.  But  God  does  not  want  our  patronage  ; 
neither  does  He  want  either  our  morality  or  our 
religion.  "  Monstrous  !  "  the  reader  will  exclaim, 
preparing  to  throw  down  the  volume.  "  Is  it  a 
matter  of  indifference  whether  we  are  moral  and 
religious,  or  not  ? "  By  no  means  a  matter  of 
indifference  as  regards  ourselves :  not  even  as  to 
our  life  on  earth,  to  say  nothing  of  the  judgment 
to  come.  But  of  supreme  indifference  to  God. 
The  man  who  struts  about,  inflated  by  the  conceit 
begotten  of  humanity  gospels,  is  like  the  Jew  who 
supposed  he  was  doing  the  Most  High  a  benefit 
when  he  piled  "  the  fat  of  fed  beasts  "  I  upon  His 
altar — the  altar  of  the  "  God  who  made  the  world 
and  all  things  that  are  therein." 

Strange  though  it  may  seem,  God  has  a  purpose 
and  a  will ;  and  He  is  so  unreasonable  as  to  require 
the  recognition  of  that  purpose,  and  compliance 
with  that  will.  But  these  are  matters  of  revela- 
tion ;  and,  therefore,  here  once  again  the  ways 
divide.  Human  religion  in  every  phase  of  it  is  of 
interest  to  men,  and  books  about  it  will  be  read, 
noticed,  and  discussed.  But  Christianity  is  a 

1  Isa.  i.  ii. 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  135 

Divine  revelation,  and,  therefore,  to  use  a  popular 
vulgarism,  it  is  "boycotted."  But  in  the  great 
truths  of  Christianity,  now  so  little  known,  is  to 
be  found  the  only  true  philosophy,  the  only  true 
solution  of  the  deeper  problems  of  life,  which  so 
perplex  and  grieve  us. 

God's  judgments  are  righteous.  And  the  prin- 
ciples which  govern  them  are  clearly  stated  :  He 
"  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds  : 
to  them  who,  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing, 
seek  for  glory  and  honour  and  immortality, 
eternal  life."  *  Who  will  question  the  equity  of 
this  ?  The  story  is  told  of  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
that  a  Hampshire  railway  porter,  a  hedge  theolo- 
gian of  local  fame,  tried  to  pose  him  with  the 
question,  "What  is  the  way  to  heaven?"  "The 
way  to  heaven  ? "  said  the  bishop,  as  the  train  in 
which  he  was  seated  moved  out  of  the  station — 
"  turn  to  the  right,  and  keep  straight  on ! "  But 
what  is  the  right  ?  This  is  the  vital  question. 
And  this  every  man  claims  to  settle  for  himself. 
Whatever  reason  and  conscience  declare  to  be 
right  is  right — this  is  a  maxim  almost  universally 

1  Rom.  ii.  6,  7. 


136  THE   SILENCE    OF    GOD 

accepted.  And  in  the  absence  of  a  revelation,  it 
is,  within  certain  limits,  practically  true.  But  when 
the  Supreme  makes  known  His  will,  compliance 
with  that  will  becomes  the  test  of  well-doing. 

In  the  Mosaic  economy,  religion  and  morality 
had  prominence.  And  in  the  cult  of  Christendom, 
which,  in  one  aspect  of  it,  is  but  a  corrupted  form 
of  Judaism,  disguised  by  Christian  phraseology, 
religion  and  morality  are  everything.  But  the 
era  of  religion  and  morality  is  past.  These  were 
like  guides  which  were  followed  in  the  darkness 
till  the  goal  was  reached  to  which  they  led.  The 
Mosaic  economy  was  a  state  of  tutelage  which 
ended  with  the  coming  of  Christ  To  set  up 
morality  and  religion  now  is  to  bring  ourselves 
within  the  denunciation  of  the  words  which  follow 
in  the  passage  quoted  :  "  But  unto  them  that  are 
contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey 
unrighteousness,  indignation  and  wrath."  Hence 
the  Lord's  reply  to  the  question,  "  What  shall  we 
do  that  we  might  work  the  works  of  God  ? " 
"  This,"  He  replied,  "  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye 
believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent."  x  "  Then  a 

1  John  vi.  28,  29. 


THE   SILENCE    OF    GOD  137 

man  may  be  as  immoral  as  he  likes,  provided  only 
he  '  believes,'  as  you  call  it."  Such  is  the  rejoinder 
of  the  contentious.  Such  was  the  criticism  of  those 
who  heard  His  words.  Reason  told  them  it  was 
wrong  ;  and  clinging  to  their  morality  and  religion, 
instead  of  believing  in  "  the  Sent  One,"  they 
crucified  Him. 

To  set  up  an  altar  "  to  an  unknown  God  "  is  the 
highest  possible  attainment  of  natural  religion. 
But  as  St.  Paul  said  at  Athens,1  even  the  light  of 
nature  should  teach  men  that  God  does  not  want 
our  service  or  our  patronage  "as  though  He  needed 
anything."  He  wished  men  to  seek  Him,  even 
though  they  had  need  to  grope  for  Him  blindly 
and  in  darkness — "  to  feel  after  Him  and  find 
Him."  And  He  could  give  them  blessing  in 
spite  of  ignorance,  for  "  He  is  a  rewarder  of  dili- 
gent seekers."  If  they  but  "  turned  to  the  right 
and  kept  straight  on,"  He  could,  to  use  the 
apostle's  words,  "  wink  at  the  ignorance."  "  But 
now,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  He  commandeth  all 
men  everywhere  to  repent."  And  the  change 
depends  on  this,  that  God  has  revealed  Himself 

1  Acts  xvii.  22-31. 


138  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

in  Christ,  and  therefore  ignorance  of  His  will  is 
sin  that  shuts  men  up  to  judgment.  A  new  era 
has  dawned  upon  the  world.  "  The  Word  was 
made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us."  The  darkness 
is  past,  the  true  light  is  shining.  To  turn  now  to 
conscience  or  to  law — to  religion  and  morality- 
is  to  act  like  men  who,  with  the  sun  in  the  zenith, 
keep  shutters  barred  and  curtains  drawn.  The 
principle  on  which  God  deals  with  men  is  the 
same,  but  the  measure  of  man's  responsibility  is 
entirely  changed.  Such  was  the  great  truth  so 
plainly  stated  by  our  Divine  Lord  in  His  words  to 
Nicodemus.  This,  He  declared,  was  the  condem- 
nation, not  that  men's  deeds  were  evil — though  for 
these  there  shall  be  wrath  in  the  day  of  wrath— 
but  that,  because  their  deeds  were  evil,  they  had 
brought  upon  themselves  a  still  direr  doom  :  light 
had  come  into  the  world,  but  they  turned  from  it 
and  loved  the  darkness. 

Men  cannot  and  will  not  believe  that  the  great 
controversy  between  them  and  God  is  altogether 
about  Christ.  To  most  men,  indeed,  the  very 
statement  seems  to  savour  of  mysticism.  The 
death  of  Christ  is  one  of  the  commonplaces  of  the 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  139 

philosophy,  as  well  as  of  the  theology,  of  Christen- 
dom. Men  boast  of  it  as  the  highest  tribute  to 
human  worth.  But  God's  estimate  of  it  is  vastly 
different.  "  The  Son  of  God  has  died  by  the  p 
hands  of  men !  This  astounding  fact  is  the 
moral  centre  of  all  things.  A  bygone  eternity 
knew  no  other  future  ;  an  eternity  to  come  shall 
know  no  other  past.  That  death  was  the  world's 
crisis.  For  long  ages,  despite  conscience  outraged, 
the  light  of  nature  quenched,  law  broken,  promises 
despised,  and  prophets  cast  out  and  slain,  the  world 
had  been  on  terms  with  God.  But  now  a  tremen- 
dous change  ensued.  Once  for  all  the  world  had 
taken  sides.  In  the  midst  stood  that  cross  in  its 
lonely  majesty :  God  on  one  side  with  averted 
face  ;  on  the  other  Satan,  exulting  in  his  triumph. 
And  the  world  took  sides  with  Satan."  z 

And  in  presence  of  that  cross  God  calls  upon 
every  one  to  whom  the  record  comes  to  declare 
himself  on  the  one  side  or  the  other.  But 
men  struggle  to  evade  the  issue.  Many,  of 
course,  ignore  it  altogether  in  a  selfish  or  a  vicious 
life  ;  but  not  a  few  attempt  a  compromise  by 

1  "  The  Gospel  and  its  Ministry,"  p.  12. 


140  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

turning  to  religion.  But  so  far  as  this  supreme 
question  is  concerned  the  result  is  the  same  for 
all.  What  the  end  will  be  of  those  who  never 
heard  of  Christ  we  know  not.  But  there  is  neither 
reserve  nor  mystery  in  Scripture  as  to  what  the 
portion  will  be  of  those  who  "  obey  the  gospel  " 
and  of  those  who  reject  it.  Upon  that  choice 
depends  the  eternal  destiny  of  each.  Hence  the 
virulence  with  which  the  Bible  is  attacked  ;  for  if 
Christ  be  beyond  our  reach  our  responsibility  is 
at  an  end.  Some  there  are  indeed  who  affect 
personal  devotion  to  Himself  though  they  dis- 
parage or  despise  the  Scriptures.  But  every 
thoughtful  person  recognises  that  it  is  only 
through  the  record  that  we  can  reach  the  person, 
that  it  is  only  through  the  written  Word  that 
we  can  reach  the  Living  Word.  Hence  His 
declaration  :  "  He  that  rejecteth  Me,  and  receiveth 
not  My  words,  hath  one  that  judgeth  him  :  the 
word  that  I  have  spoken,  the  same  shall  judge 
him  in  the  last  day."  J 

The  consequences,  then,  of  accepting  or  rejecting 
Christ   are   eternal.     No    other   question   is  open. 

1  John  xii.  48. 


THE    SILENCE    OF   GOD  141 

Morality !  In  morals,  as  in  physics,  the  greater 
includes  the  less,  and  the  gospel  teaches  a  higher 
morality  than  conscience  and  law  combined.  But 
in  this  Christian  dispensation  God  is  not  im- 
puting their  sins  to  men.  Were  it  otherwise  the 
silence  of  Heaven  would  give  place  to  the  thunders 
of  His  judgments.  Every  question  of  judgment 
was  either  settled  for  ever  at  the  Cross,  or  has 
been  postponed  to  the  day  that  is  still  to 
come  :  God  "  knows  how  "  "  to  reserve  the  unjust 
to  the  day  of  judgment  to  be  punished,"1  and  the 
day  of  judgment  is  not  yet. 

A  red-letter  day  it  must  have  seemed  to  the 
village  community  of  Nazareth  when  the  great 
Rabbi  who  had  grown  to  manhood  in  their  midst 
reappeared  in  their  synagogue,  and  stood  up  to 
read  the  Sabbath  lesson  from  the  Prophets. 
Opening  the  roll  delivered  to  Him,  He  found 
the  passage  beginning,  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me,  because  He  anointed  me  to  preach 
good  tidings  to  the  poor ;  He  hath  sent  me  to 
proclaim  release  to  the  captives,  and  recovering 
of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that 

1  2  Pet.  ii.  9. 


142  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

are  bruised,  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of 
the  Lord —  -"  :  and  abruptly  closing  the  book, 
He  handed  it  back  to  the  attendant  and  sat 
down.  Having  stood  forward  to  read  the  lesson 
for  the  day,  He  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the 
opening  sentence.  What  wonder  that  all  eyes 
were  fastened  on  Him  !  "  This  day,"  He  broke 
the  silence  by  declaring,  "  is  this  Scripture  ful- 
filled in  your  ears." 

"  And  the  day  of  vengeance  of  our  God  "  were 
the  words  that  followed  without  a  break  on  the 
open  page  before  Him  ;  but  He  left  those  words 
unread.  "  The  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord  "  He 
then  and  there  proclaimed,  and  it  still  runs  its 
course,  but  the  great  day  of  judgment  is  even 
now  still  future. 

Not  that  the  moral  government  of  the  world 
is  in  abeyance.  Even  here  and  now  men  reap 
what  they  sow.  Righteousness  prospers  and 
iniquity  brings  its  own  penalty.  Not  always 
indeed,  nor  openly ;  but  generally,  and  with 
sufficient  definiteness  to  make  it  clear  that  this 
is  the  rule — the  ordinary  course  of  things.  And 
further,  in  the  Divine  economy  provision  is  made 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  143 

for  human  government ;  and  the  sword  is  entrusted 
to  men  that  rulers  may  be  a  terror  to  the  evil- 
doer and  a  protection  to  the  good.  Were  it 
otherwise  society  would  be  impossible.  But  while 
men  are  thus  empowered  to  punish  offences 
against  human  laws,  the  judgment  of  sin  is  alto- 
gether with  God. 

And  here  we  recall  another  declaration  of  our 
Divine  Lord.  "  The  Father  judgeth  no  man,  but 
hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son." 
"  We  believe  that  Thou  shalt  come  to  be  our 
judge"  is  upon  the  lips  of  thousands  who  in 
their  hearts  imagine  that  He  will  mediate  in 
the  judgment  between  them  and  an  offended 
God.  But  it  is  to  the  crucified  One  Himself 
that  in  virtue  of  the  Cross  the  Divine  prerogative 
of  judgment  has  been  assigned.  And  He,  the 
sinner's  only  Judge,  is  now  the  sinner's  Saviour. 
Purification  for  sins  accomplished,  He  has  "  sat 
down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high."1 
The  official  attitude  of  Christ,  if  such  a  phrase 
may  be  allowed,  is  one  of  rest.  The  work  of 
redemption  is  complete.  The  great  amnesty  has 

1   Heb.  i.  3. 


144  THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD 

* 

been  proclaimed.  Heaven  is  thrown  open  to  the 
lost  of  earth.  Eternal  life  is  brought  within  the 
reach  of  the  weakest  and  the  worst  of  men.  God 
is  not  imputing  trespasses,  but  preaching  peace. 
And  the  only  Being  in  the  universe  who  has 
power  to  punish  sin  is  now  seated  on  the  throne 
of  God  as  Saviour,  and  His  presence  there  has 
changed  that  throne  into  a  throne  of  grace. 
Grace  reigns  through  righteousness  unto  eternal 
life ;  for  "  the  free  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  x 

"  How  monstrous  all  this  is !  The  idea  of  sup- 
posing that  people  who  have  consistently  lived 
religious  lives  are  to  be  shut  out  of  heaven,  while 
the  worthless  and  depraved  can  obtain  forgive- 
ness and  acceptance  simply  by  believing  in 
Christ ! "  Such  will  be  the  criticism  these 
statements  will  generally  evoke.  Monstrous  it 
may  seem  ;  but  before  men  hold  it  up  to 
censure  or  ridicule  let  them  pause  and  reflect 
what  it  is  that  they  are  thus  rejecting.  "  To 
Him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness  that  through 
His  name  every  one  that  believeth  on  Him  shall 

1  See  Appendix,  Note  VIII. 


THE  SILENCE  OF  GOD  145 

receive  remission  of  sins." J  Nor  is  it  a  dogma 
of  "  Pauline  doctrine,"  but  the  teaching  of  one 
of  the  simplest  parables  of  Christ,  that  waifs  and 
tramps  from  the  highways  and  the  slums  sit 
down  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  while  the  once 
invited  guests — the  moral  and  religious — are  ex- 
cluded.2 And  the  parable  is  explained  by  the 
doctrine  that  His  Divine  mission  was  "  not  to 
call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance." 

1  Acts  x.  43  (R.V.).  2  Luke  xiv.  15-24. 


ii 


CHAPTER     XIII 

A  SILENT  Heaven  !  Yes,  but  it  is  not  the 
•*  *-  silence  of  callous  indifference  or  helpless 
weakness  ;  it  is  the  silence  of  a  great  sabbatic 
rest,  the  silence  of  a  peace  which  is  absolute  and 
profound — a  silence  which  is  the  public  pledge 
and  proof  that  the  way  is  open  for  the  guiltiest 
of  mankind  to  draw  near  to  God.  When  faith 
murmurs,  and  unbelief  revolts,  and  men  challenge 
the  Supreme  to  break  that  silence  and  declare 
Himself,  how  little  do  they  realise  what  the 
challenge  means !  It  means  the  withdrawal  of 
the  amnesty ;  it  means  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
grace  ;  it  means  the  closing  of  the  day  of  mercy 
and  the  dawning  of  the  day  of  wrath. 

Among  the  statements  which  distressed  the 
orthodox  in  the  late  Professor  Tyndall's  famous 
Birmingham  address  on  "  Science  and  Man,"  was 


THE   SILENCE   OF  GOD  147 

his  reference  to  the  Herald  Angels'  song.  "  Look 
to  the  East  at  the  present  moment "  (he  exclaimed) 
"as  a  comment  on  the  promise  of  peace  on 
earth  and  goodwill  towards  men.  The  promise 
is  a  dream  ruined  by  the  experience  of  eighteen 
centuries,  and  in  that  ruin  is  involved  the  claim 
of  the  '  heavenly  host '  to  prophetic  vision." 
But  the  angels'  song  was  not  a  promise ;  still 
less  was  it  a  prophecy.  That  anthem  of  praise 
was  a  Divine  proclamation.  The  time  was  not 
yet  when  God  could  enforce  peace  between  man 
and  man  ;  but  grace  "  came  by  Jesus  Christ,"  and 
with  that  advent  peace  and  goodwill  became  the 
attitude  of  God  to  men.  And  this  "on  earth," 
even  in  the  midst  of  their  sorrows  and  their  sins. 
"  He  came  and  preached  good  tidings  of  peace."  I 
And  "  he  that  has  ears  to  hear "  can  catch  the  - 
echo  of  that  voice  as  it  still  vibrates  in  our  air. 
If  God  is  silent  now  it  is  because  Heaven  has 
come  down  to  earth,  the  climax  of  Divine  reve- 
lation has  been  reached,  there  is  no  reserve  of 
mercy  yet  to  be  unfolded.  He  has  spoken  His 
last  word  of  love  and  grace,  and  when  next  He 

1  Eph.  ii.  17  (R.V.  inarg.}. 


148  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

breaks  the  silence  it  will  be  to  let  loose  the 
judgments  which  shall  yet  engulf  a  world  that 
has  rejected  Christ.  For  "our  God  shall  come 
and  shall  not  keep  silence."  l 

A  silent  Heaven  is  a  part  of  the  mystery  of 
God  ;  but  Holy  Writ  declares  that  a  day  is  fixed 
in  the  Divine  chronology  when  "  the  mystery  of 
God  shall  be  finished." 2  And  when  that  day 
breaks,  the  heavenly  host  shall  again  be  heard, 
proclaiming  that  "  The  sovereignty  of  the  world  3 
is  become  our  Lord's  and  His  Christ's,  and  He 
shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever."  And  at  this 
signal  the  wonderful  beings  that  sit  on  thrones 
around  the  throne  of  God  shall  raise  the  anthem, 
"  We  give  Thee  thanks,  O  Lord  God  Almighty, 
which  art,  and  wast,  and  art  to  come,  because 
Thou  hast  taken  to  Thee  Thy  great  power,  and 
hast  reigned.  And  the  nations  were  angry  and 
Thy  wrath  is  come,  and  the  time  of  the  dead  that 
they  should  be  judged,  and  that  Thou  shouldest 
give  reward  to  Thy  servants  the  prophets  and 
to  the  saints  and  them  that  fear  Thy  name, 

1  Psa.  1.  3.  2  Rev.  x.  7. 

TOV  Kotrfiov  (Rev.  xi.  15). 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  149 

small  and  great,  and  shouldest  destroy  them 
that  destroy  the  earth."1  Then  at  last  He 
will  assume  the  power  that  even  now  is  His 
by  right,  and  openly  reward  the  good  and  put 
down  the  evil.  In  a  word,  He  will  do  then 
what  men  think  He  ought  to  do  now  and 
always.  And  if  He  delays  to  do  this,  it  is  not 
that  He  is  "  slack  concerning  His  promise." 
God's  own  "apology"  for  His  inaction  is  that 
He  is  "  longsuffering  to  us-ward,  not  willing  that 
any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to 
repentance."2 

Through  all  the  ages  until  Christ  came  the 
course  of  human  history  was  an  unanswered 
indictment  by  which  every  attribute  of  God  was 
seemingly  discredited.  The  Divine  power  and 
wisdom  and  righteousness  and  love  were  all 
brought  into  question.  But  the  advent  of 
Christ  was  God's  full  and  final  revelation  of 
Himself  to  man.  There  are  mysteries,  no 
doubt,  which  still  remain  unsolved,  but  they 
are  mysteries  which  lie  beyond  the  horizon 
of  our  world.  First  among  these  is  the  origin 

1  Rev.  xi.  15-18.  2  2  Pet.  iii.  9. 


150  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

of  evil.  Not  the  Eden  fall,  but  the  fall  of 
that  wonderful  Being  to  whose  "  devices "  the 
Eden  fall  was  due.  Why  did  God  permit  the 
first  and  noblest  of  His  creatures  to  turn  devil? 
But  of  all  the  questions  which  immediately 
concern  us,  there  is  not  one  which  the  Cross  of 
Christ  has  left  unanswered.  Men  point  to  the 
sad  incidents  of  human  life  on  earth,  and  they 
ask  "  Where  is  the  love  of  God  ? "  God  points 
to  that  Cross  as  the  unreserved  manifestation  of 
love  so  inconceivably  infinite  as  to  answer  every 
challenge  and  silence  all  doubt  for  ever.1  And  that 
Cross  is  not  merely  the  public  proof  of  what  God 
has  accomplished  ;  it  is  the  earnest  of  all  that  He 
has  promised.  The  crowning  mystery  of  God  is 
Christ,  for  in  Him  "  are  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom 
and  knowledge  hidden."2  And  those  hidden 


1  Anything  which   is   manifest   is   of  course   raised   out   of  the 
sphere  of  doubt  or  question  ;  and  God  declares  that  in  the  Cross 
of  Christ  His  grace  and  kindness  and  love  have  been  manifested 
(Tit.   ii.  II,  iii.  4;   I  John  iv.  9).     But,  ignoring  the  stupendous 
fact  that,  for  our  sakes,  He  "spared  not  His  own  Son,"  men  seek 
to  put  Him  upon  proof  of  His  love  ;  and  the  test  is  whether  He 
complies   with   some   specific   appeal    urged   in   the   petulance    of 
present  need  or  sorrow. 

2  Col.  ii.  2,  3  (R.V.). 


THE    SILENCE    OF    GOD  151 

treasures  are  yet  to  be  unfolded.  It  is  the 
Divine  purpose  to  "  gather  together  in  one  all 
things  in  Christ."  l  Sin  has  broken  the  harmony 
of  creation,  but  that  harmony  shall  yet  be 
restored  by  the  supremacy  of  our  now  despised 
and  rejected  Lord.  In  the  very  name  of  His 
humiliation  every  knee  in  heaven  and  on  earth 
and  in  the  underworld  shall  bow  before  Him, 
and  every  tongue  shall  confess  that  He  is 
Lord. 2 

And  to  believe  in  Christ  is  to  own  His  Lordship 
now.  Hence  the  promise,  "  If  thou  shalt  confess 
with  thy  mouth  Jesus  as  Lord,  and  shalt  believe 
in  thy  heart  that  God  raised  Him  from  the  dead, 
thou  shalt  be  saved." 3  The  sinner  who  thus  believes 
in  Christ  anticipates  now  and  here  the  realisation 
of  the  supreme  purpose  of  God,  and  he  is 
absolutely  and  for  ever  saved. 

1  Eph.  i.   10.  2  Phil.  ii.   10. 

s  Rom.  x.  9  (R.V.).     The  true  Buddhist  will  declare  himself  by 
the  way  in  which  he  names  his  master,  never  omitting  some  title 
expressive  of  his  reverence  for  him.     And  the  true  Christian  will 
declare  himself  in    the  same  way.     If  a  man  habitually  writes  or 
speaks  about  "Jesus,"  we  may  be  sure,  whatever  his  creed  may 
be,  that  he  is  a  Socinian  at  heart.     "  That  Jesus  Christ  is  LORD  "  i 
is  the  special  testimony  of  Christianity,  and  the  Christian  will  not  ' 
forget  it  even  in  his  words. 


152  THE   SILENCE    OF   GOD 

It  was  in  the  power  of  these  truths  that  the 
martyrs  lived  and  died.  Here  was  the  secret  of 
their  triumph — not  "  the  general  sense  of  Scripture 
corrected  in  the  light  of  reason  and  conscience  "  ; 
not  the  insolent  pretensions  of  priestcraft,  degrading 
to  every  one  who  tolerates  them.  With  hearts 
awed  by  the  fear  of  God,  garrisoned  by  the  peace 
of  God,  and  exulting  in  the  love  of  God,  shed 
abroad  there  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  they  stood  for 
the  truth  against  priests  and  princes  combined, 
and  daring  to  be  called  heretics  they  were  faithful 
to  their  Lord  in  life  and  in  death. 

Heaven  was  as  silent  then  as  it  is  now.  No 
sights  were  seen,  no  voice  was  heard,  to  make 
their  persecutors  pause.  No  signs  were  witnessed 
to  give  proof  that  God  was  with  them  as  they  lay 
upon  the  rack  or  gave  up  their  life-breath  at  the 
stake.  But  with  their  spiritual  vision  focussed 
upon  Christ,  the  unseen  realities  of  heaven  filled 
their  hearts,  as  they  passed  from  a  world  that  was 
not  worthy  of  them  to  the  home  that  God  has 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.  But  with  us, 
the  degenerate  sons  of  a  degenerate  age,  faith 
falters  beneath  the  strain  of  the  petty  trials  of  our 


THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD  153 

life.  And  while  He  is  saying  "  I  will  never  leave  thee 
nor  forsake  thee,"  our  murmurs  drown  His  voice  ; 
and  though  professing  to  be  "  followers  of  them 
who  through  faith  and  patience  inherit  the  pro- 
mises," our  petulance  and  unbelief  put  from  us 
the  infinite  compassions  of  God.  "  They  endured 
as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible":  we  can  see 
nothing  but  our  troubles  and  our  sorrows,  which 
loom  the  greater  because  viewed  through  tears  of 
selfish  grief,  that  blind  our  eyes  to  the  glories  of 
eternity. 

The  dispensation  of  law  and  covenant  and 
promise — the  distinctive  privileges  of  the  favoured 
people — was  marked  by  the  public  display  of 
Divine  power  upon  earth.  But  the  reign  of  grace 
has  its  correlative  in  the  life  of  faith.  Ours  is 
the  higher  privilege,  the  greater  blessedness  of 
those  "who  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed."1 
And  walking  by  faith  is  the  antithesis  of  walking 
by  sight.  If  "signs  and  wonders"  were  vouchsafed 
to  us,  as  in  Pentecostal  days,  faith  would  sink  to  a 
lower  level,  and  the  whole  standard  and  character  f 
of  the  discipline  of  Christian  life  would  be  changed.2 

1  John  xx.  29.  3  See  Appendix,  Note  IX. 


154  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

The  sufferings  of  Paul  denote  a  higher  faith 
than  "  the  mighty  deeds  "  of  his  earlier  ministry. 
Not  until  miracles  had  ceased,  and  he  had 
entered  on  the  path  of  faith  as  we  now  tread  it, 
was  it  revealed  to  him  that  his  life  was  to  be 
"  a  pattern  to  them  that  should  afterwards 
believe."  I 

And  what  a  life  it  was !  Here  is  the  amazing 
record  :  "  Of  the  Jews  five  times  received  I  forty 
stripes  save  one.  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods, 
once  was  I  stoned,  thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck,  a 
night  and  a  day  have  I  been  in  the  deep ;  in 
journeyings  often,  in  perils  of  waters,  in  perils  of 
robbers,  in  perils  by  my  own  countrymen,  in 
perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in 
perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea,  in 
perils  among  false  brethren  ;  in  weariness  and 
painfulness,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and 
thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness." 2 
And  all  this  not  only  without  a  murmur,  but 
with  a  heart  exulting  in  God.  Instead  of  grum- 
bling at  his  infirmities  he  made  a  boast  of 
them.  Instead  of  repining  at  his  persecutions 

1  i  Tim.  i.  16.  2  2  Cor.  xi.  24-27. 


THE   SILENCE   OF    GOD  155 

he  learned  to  take  pleasure  in  them. J  Not 
vainly  nor  morbidly,  but  "for  Christ's  sake,"  his 
Master  and  Lord,  for  whom,  he  declared,  "he 
had  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things."  Reviewing  all 
his  privations  and  sufferings  he  describes  them  as 
"  light  affliction  which  is  for  the  moment,  working 
for  us  more  and  more  exceedingly  an  eternal 
weight  of  glory,"  and  he  adds,  "  while  we  look,  not 
at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  ;  for  the  things  which  are  seen 
are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen 
are  eternal."2 

How  different  this  from  the  experience  de- 
scribed in  the  opening  chapter !  3  There  it  is 
a  case  of  those  who,  seeing  nothing  beyond  the 
events  and  circumstances  of  their  life,  turn  away 

1  Here  is  an  ascending  scale  of  experience  : — 

"  Hath  God  forgotten  to  be  gracious  ?  Hath  He  in  anger  shut  up 
His  tender  mercies  ?"  (Psa.  Ixxvii.  9). 

"  I  was  dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth,  because  Thou  didst  it  " 
(Psa.  xxxix.  9). 

"  I  have  learned  in  whatsoever  state  I  am  therewith  to  be  con- 
tent"  (Phil.  iv.  11). 

"  Most  gladly  therefore  will  I  rather  glory  in  my  infirmities  .  .  . 
I  take  pleasure  in  infirmities,  in  reproaches,  in  necessities,  in  perse- 
cutions, in  distresses  for  Christ's  sake  "  (2  Cor.  xii.  9,  10). 

2  2  Cor.  iv.  17,  1 8.  3  Page  10  ante. 


156  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

from  God  with  hardened  and  embittered  hearts. 
But  the  sons  of  faith  look  away  from  the  fierce 
waves  and  threatening  storm-clouds,  for  well  they 
know  that — 

"  Above  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
The  mighty  breakers  of  the  sea, 
The  Lord  on  high  is  mighty."  x 

And  thus,  filled  with  glad  thoughts  of  the 
home  beyond  and  of  the  glory  to  which  He  is 
calling  them,  they  can  rejoice  in  Him,  even 
though  in  heaviness  in  manifold  trials,  for  the 
proof  of  their  faith  is  precious.2 

Men  understand  and  appreciate  the  asceticisms 
of  religion — "will-worship,  and  humility,  and 
severity  to  the  body" — penances  and  ordinances 
which  are  "after  the  precepts  and  doctrines  of 
men."  3  But  these  have  nothing  in  common 
with  the  life  of  faith.  They  are  paths  by  which 
men  delude  themselves  in  vain  efforts  to  reach 
,  the  Cross.  But  it  is  at  the  Cross  itself  that 
the  life  of  faith  begins.  And  the  spiritual 

1  Psa.  xciii.  4  (R.V.  revised.  The  word  voice  is  in  the  plural, 
but  it  is  obviously  the  Hebrew  poetical  plural :  not  several  voices, 
but  "  the  great  voice  "). 

2  i  Pet.  i.  6,  7.  3  Col.  ii.  23  (R.V). 


THE   SILENCE    OF    GOD  157 

miracles  of  that  life  are  more  wonderful  than 
any  which  merely  controlled  or  suspended  the 
operation  of  natural  laws.  Greatest  of  them  all 
is  the  miracle  of  the  new  birth  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  with  its  outward  side  of  conversion  from 
a  life  of  selfishness  or  sin  to  a  life  of  conse- 
crated service.  And  those  who  have  experienced 
it  can  say  in  the  words  of  Holy  Writ,  "  We 
know  that  the  Son  of  God  is  come,  and  hath 
given  us  an  understanding,  that  we  may  know 
Him  that  is  true." z  And  carrying  the  truth  to 
others,  they  find  it  produces  the  same  results 
which  they  themselves  have  proved.  And  this 
not  merely  in  isolated  cases  or  in  favouring 
circumstances.  Recent  years,  during  which  so 
many  who  have  publicly  pledged  their  belief  that 
the  Bible  is  true,2  and  who  are  subsidised  to 
teach  that  it  is  Divine,  have  been  labouring  to 

1  i  John  v.  20. 

2  Every  candidate  for  ordination  must  publicly  declare,  in  reply 
to  the  Bishop,  that  he  "  unfeignedly  believes  all  the  canonical  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments."     Whether  such  a  pledge 
ought  to  be  required  I  will  not  discuss.     The  fact  remains.     And 
this  being  so,  when  clergymen  set  themselves  to  discredit  the  Bible, 
the  primary  question  suggested  concerns  their  own  honesty.     Has 
the  Church  a  lower  standard  of  morality  than  the  Clubs  ? 


158  THE   SILENCE   OF   GOD 

prove  that  it  is  unreliable  and  human — these 
have  been  precisely  the  years  in  which  Christian 
men  have  carried  it  to  some  of  the  most  de- 
graded races  of  the  heathen  world,  with  results 
that  surpass  all  previous  records,  giving  over- 
whelming proof  of  its  Divine  character  and 
mission. 

To  men  like  these  there  is  a  sense  in  which 
Heaven  is  not  silent.  The  science  of  to-day  has 
•  taught  us  that  there  are  rays  of  light,  till  now 
unknown,  which  can  penetrate  the  densest  sub- 
stances. But  these  rays  can  only  be  evolved 
when  the  atmosphere  of  earth  has  been  excluded. 
And  such  wonders  have  their  counterpart  in  the 
spiritual  sphere.  Those  who  can  thus  escape 
from  the  influence  of  earth,  and  rise  above  the 
seen  and  temporal,  have  eyes  to  see  and  ears  to 
hear  the  sights  and  sounds  of  another  world ; 
and  with  united  voice  they  testify  that  God  is 
with  His  people  and  that  His  Word  is  true. 

And  behind  these  men  are  tens  of  thousands 
of  Christians  at  home,  including  not  a  few 
of  the  greatest  theologians,  and  thinkers,  and 
scholars  of  the  age,  who  share  their  beliefs  and 


THE    SILENCE   OF   GOD  159 

rejoice  in  their  triumphs.  Not  that  the  question, 
What  is  truth?  can  be  settled  by  a  plebiscite! 
For  truth  has  always  been  in  a  minority.  But 
there  is  no  element  of  cohesion  in  error.  Among 
the  children  of  error  there  is  no  bond  of  unity 
save  such  as  depends  on  common  hostility  to  truth. 
One  generation  kills  the  prophets  ;  another  builds 
their  sepulchres.  Those  who  shed  the  martyrs' 
blood  are  repudiated  and  condemned  by  their 
successors  and  representatives  to-day.  But  the 
children  of  truth  in  every  age  are  one.  Great 
is  the  "  cloud  of  witnesses "  encompassing  us 
round — the  righteous  dead  of  all  the  ages  past. 
And  when  our  race  shall  have  been  run,  we  too 
in  time  shall  pass  from  the  arena  to  join  the 
mighty  throng,  until  at  last,  their  rank's  com- 
plete, the  ever-swelling  host  shall  stand,  a  count- 
less multitude,  before  the  throne  of  God. 


What  a  success  this  book  might  have  been  had 
it  but  fulfilled  the  promise  of  its  earlier  pages  ! 
If  only  it  had  gone  on  to  enforce  the  revolt 
against  faith  suggested  in  the  opening  chapter, 


160  THE  SILENCE  OF  GOD 

then  indeed  it  would  have  been  "  reviewed "  in 
the  newspapers  and  "  called  for "  at  the  libraries. 
But  while  sceptical  attacks  upon  the  Bible  rank 
with  general  literature,1  any  defence  of  it  which 
appeals  to  its  deeper  teaching  is  deemed  unsuited 
for  notice  in  the  secular  press.  And  so  it  comes 
about  that  everything  which  unbelief  has  to  urge 
is  brought  prominently  before  the  public,  but  the 
vast  majority  of  people  never  hear  of  a  book  which 
is  distinctly  Christian. 

Religion  and  Scepticism  are  rival  competitors 
for  popular  favour.  And  yet  there  are  many  who, 
though  conscious  of  longings  too  deep  to  be  satis- 
fied by  mere  religion,  make  choice  of  religion 
because  they  know  of  no  other  refuge  from  un- 
belief. And  there  are  others  again  who,  "with 
too  much  knowledge  for  the  sceptic's  side,"  drift 
into  scepticism  in  their  recoil  from  priestcraft.2 
To  some  such,  perchance,  these  pages  may  suggest 
a  better  way.  For  Christianity  delivers  us  not 

1  Appendix,  Note  X. 

2  The  lives  of  the  Newmans  afford  an  apt  illustration.     Both 
i    made  shipwreck  of  their  faith — the  one  in  religion,   the  other  in 
(    infidelity.      The    "Apologia"   and   the    "Phases  of  Faith"    are 

among  the  saddest  of  books. 


THE  SILENCE  OF    GOD  161 

only  from  scepticism  on  the  one  hand,  but  from 
superstition  on  the  other. 

And  to  not  a  few  this  volume  may  be  welcome 
as  affording  a  clew  to  pressing  difficulties  which 
perplex  and  distress  the  thoughtful.  Infidelity 
trades  upon  the  silence  of  Heaven,  the  inaction  of 
the  Supreme.  If  there  be  a  God,  almighty  and 
all-good,  why  does  He  not  use  His  power  and  give 
proof  of  His  goodness  in  the  way  men  choose  to 
expect  of  Him  ?  The  answer  usually  offered  by 
the  Christian  apologist  fails  either  to  silence  the 
opponent  or  to  satisfy  the  believer.  And  rightly 
so,  for  it  is  lacking  not  only  in  cogency  but  in 
sympathy.  The  God  of  the  Bible  is  infinite  both 
in  power  and  in  compassion  ;  and  in  other  ages 
His  people  had  public  proof  of  this.  Why,  then, 
is  He  so  silent? 

The  question  is  not  why  He  does  not  always 
declare  Himself,  but  why  He  never  does  so.  If, 
as  already  urged,  whole  generations  even  passed 
away  without  experiencing  any  direct  manifesta- 
tion of  Divine  power  on  earth,  then,  in  presence 
of  some  crushing  sorrow,  some  hideous  wrong, 
His  people  might  well  exclaim  with  Gideon  long 

12 


162  THE  SILENCE  OF  GOD 

ago,  "If  the  Lord  be  with  us,  why  then  is  all 
this  befallen  us?  and  where  be  all  His  miracles 
which  our  fathers  told  us  of  ? "  r  But  what  con- 
cerns us  is  the  fact  that  throughout  the  entire 
course  of  this  Christian  dispensation  since  Pente- 
costal times,  "  the  finger  of  God  "  2  has  never  been 
openly  at  work  upon  earth,  never  once  has  a 
public  miracle  been  witnessed — "a  single  public 
event  to  compel  belief  that  there  is  a  God  at  all !  " 
Are  we  left  to  grope  in  darkness  for  the  answer  ? 
Does  revelation  throw  no  light  upon  it?  To 
suggest  the  solution  of  this  mystery  these  pages 
have  been  written. 

1  Judg.  vi.  13.  '2  Luke  xi.  20. 


APPENDIX. 

NOTE  I.  (page  18). 

IN  these  pages  I  am  dealing  only  with  miracles 
in  the  theological  sense ;  that  is,  with  Divine 
miracles.  The  phenomena  of  Spiritualism  I  have 
never  personally  investigated  ;  but  if  genuine  they 
are  clearly  miraculous,  and  to  reject,  on  a  priori 
grounds,  the  mass  of  evidence  adduced  in  proof 
of  them  in  books  like  Professor  A.  R,  Wallace's 
"  Miracles  and  Modern  Spiritualism,"  seems  to  me 
to  savour  of  the  stupidity  of  unbelief.  Assuming 
their  genuineness,  no  Christian  need  hesitate  to 
account  for  them  by  demoniacal  agency.  To 
attribute  them  to  departed  spirits  is  as  unphiloso- 
phical  as  it  is  unscriptural.  It  would  seem  that  in 
this  Christian  dispensation,  when  the  third  Person 
of  the  Trinity  dwells  on  earth,  demons  are  subject 
to  restraints  which  were  not  imposed  in  a  pre- 
ceding age,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  refuse  belief  in 

their  presence  or  their  power. 

163 


1 64  APPENDIX 

Religious  miracles  also  claim  a  passing  notice 
here.  I  do  not  allude  to  the  tricks  of  priests,  but 
to  cases  of  extraordinary  cures  from  serious  illness  ; 
and  some  at  least  of  these  appear  to  be  supported 
by  evidence  sufficient  to  establish  their  truth.  The 
phenomena  of  hysteria  and  mimetic  disease  will 
probably  account  for  the  majority  of  cases  of  the 
kind.  Others  again  may  be  explained  as  instances 
of  the  power  of  the  mind  and  will  over  the  body. 
The  diseases  which  are  necessarily  fatal  are  com- 
paratively few.  But  when  a  patient  gives  up  hope 
his  chances  of  recovery  are  greatly  reduced.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  progress  of  disease  may  be 
controlled,  and  even  checked,  by  some  mastering 
influence  or  emotion  which  turns  the  patient's 
thoughts  back  to  life,  and  makes  him  believe  he 
is  convalescent.  But  while  the  vast  majority  of 
seemingly  miraculous  cures  may  thus  be  explained 
on  natural  principles,  there  may  perhaps  be  some 
which  are  genuine  miracles.  There  are  no  limits 
to  the  possibilities  of  faith,  and  God  may  thus 
declare  Himself  at  times. 

There  is  nothing  in  this  admission  to  clash 
with  the  concluding  statement  of  my  second 
chapter,  that  in  our  dispensation,  unlike  those 
which  preceded  it,  there  are  no  public  events  to 
compel  belief  in  God.  I  am  there  dealing,  not 
with  the  mere  fact  of  miracles,  but  with  their 
evidential  value  ;  and  if  there  have  been  miracles 


APPENDIX  165 

in  Christendom,  that  element  is  wanting  in  them. 
I  may  add  that  among  Christians  it  is  pestilently 
evil  to  make  the  exceptional  experience  of  some 
the  rule  of  faith  for  all.  The  Word  of  God  is  our 
guide,  and  not  the  experience  of  fellow-Christians  ; 
and  when  this  is  ignored  the  practical  consequences 
are  disastrous.  The  annals  of  "  faith-healing,"  as 
it  is  called,  are  rich  in  cases  of  mimetic  or  hys- 
terical disease,  but  about  the  spiritual  wreckage 
due  to  failures  innumerable  they  are  silent. 

NOTE  II.  (page  45). 

According  to  the  dictionary  the  primary  meaning 
of  religion  is  "  piety."  But  this,  of  course,  is  entirely 
personal  and  subjective.  In  these  pages  I  use  the 
word  only  in  its  original  sense,  in  which  alone  it 
occurs  in  our  English  Bible.  "  How  little  *  religion  ' 
once  meant  godliness,  how  predominantly  it  was 
used  for  the  outward  service  of  God,  is  plain  from 
many  passages  in  our  Homilies,  and  from  other 
contemporary  literature."  But  though  Archbishop 
Trench,  from  whose  "  English  Past  and  Present " 
this  sentence  is  quoted,  suggests  that  such  a  use  of 
the  word  is  now  obsolete,  I  venture  to  maintain  that 
it  is  in  this,  its  original,  but  now  secondary,  mean- 
ing that  it  is  commonly  used  at  the  present  day. 

And  I  may  appeal  to  the  fact  that  the  Revisers 
have  retained  it  even  in  Gal.  i.  13,  14,  where  "the 
Jews'  religion "  is  twice  given  as  the  equivalent 


1 66  APPENDIX 

of  "Judaism."  In  the  only  other  passages  where 
it  occurs  (Acts  xxvi.  5,  and  James  i.  26,  27),  it  is 
the  rendering  of  the  Greek  OpriaKtia,  a  word  which 
means  the  outward  ceremonial  service  of  religion, 
the  external  form,  as  contrasted  with  tvatfieia,  a 
word  which,  with  one  exception,  is  always  translated 
godliness  in  the  fifteen  passages  where  it  occurs. 
Qpr)(TK£ia  is  rendered  worshipping  in  Col.  ii.  18,  thus 
plainly  showing  that  it  is  outward  ceremonial  it 
implies.  Its  use  in  Acts  xxvi.  5  needs  no  com- 
ment, but  in  James  i.  its  significance  is  generally 
missed.  "  Pure  religion,"  the  writer  declares,  "  is 
this  " — and  every  Israelite  (for  to  such  the  Epistle 
was  specially  addressed)  would  expect  a  reference 
to  new  ordinances  in  lieu  of  those  of  the  bygone 
dispensation  ;  but  his  thoughts  turn  in  a  wholly 
different  direction — "to  visit  the  fatherless  and 
widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself 
unspotted  from  the  world."  As  Archbishop 
Trench  remarks,  the  very  flprjo-icaa  of  Christianity 
"consists  in  acts  of  mercy,  of  love,  of  holiness." 
The  words  are  intended,  not  to  indicate  a  parallel, 
but  to  suggest  a  contrast.  In  no  more  forcible 
and  striking  manner  could  the  apostle  teach  that 
Christianity  is  not  a  OpiqaKeia  at  all. 

NOTE  III.  (page  56). 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  is  divided  by  theolo- 
gians into  three  main  periods  :  The  Hebraic  (chaps. 


APPENDIX  167 

i.-v.) ;  the  Transitional  (vi.-xii.),  and  the  Gentile 
(xiii.-xxviii.).  But  this  classification  is  arbitrary. 
The  Hebraic  section  includes  at  least  the  first  nine 
chapters  ;  and  if  the  view  of  the  Book  here  advo- 
cated be  correct,  the  rest  must  be  regarded  as 
transitional.  That  it  is  so  in  a  real  sense  no 
student  can  fail  to  recognise  ;  and  that  this  is  the 
intention  of  the  narrative  I  venture  to  maintain. 
The  admission  of  the  Gentiles,  recorded  in  chap,  x., 
was  on  strictly  Jewish  lines,  as  the  apostles  came 
to  understand,  and  James  explained  at  the  Council 
of  Jerusalem  (xv.  13,  &c.).  Those  that  were 
scattered  by  the  Stephen  persecution  preached  "  to 
Jews  only"  (xi.  19).  The  marginal  note  to  ver.  20 
in  R.V.  shows  that  the  passage  must  not  be  strained 
to  imply  a  denial  of  this.  That  Paul's  ministry 
during  the  year  he  spent  in  Antioch  was  confined 
to  Jews,  appears  from  xiv.  27. 1  When  from 
Antioch  Paul  and  Barnabas  came  to  Salamis  "  they 
preached  in  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews"  (xiii.  5). 
When  they  came  to  Pisidian  Antioch,  they  again 
repaired  to  the  synagogue  (ver.  14).  And  it  was 
not  till  the  Jews  rejected  the  ministry  that  the 
apostles  "turned  to  the  Gentiles"  (ver.  46). 
This  passage  marks  one  of  the  minor  crises  in 
the  narrative.  At  Iconium  again  the  apostles 

1  Because  if  Gentiles  had  been  evangelised  during  his  first  visit, 
there  would  have  been  no  need  to  announce  on  his  return  that  God 
had  opened  the  door  of  faith  to  Gentiles. 


168  APPENDIX 

preached  in  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews  (xiv.  i). 
As  the  "  Greeks "  here  mentioned  were  attending 
the  synagogue,  they  were  evidently  proselytes,  and 
are  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  "  Gentiles " 
of  verses  2  and  5.  Verse  27  of  the  fourteenth 
chapter,  makes  it  clear  that  Paul's  ministry  among 
the  Gentiles  began  with  his  sojourn  in  Pisidia 
(chap.  xiii.). 

Chap.  xv.  claims  far  fuller  notice  than  can  here 
be  given  to  it.  Any  one  can  see,  however,  that  it 
records  the  session  of  a  council  of  Jews  to  deal 
with  new  problems  to  which  the  conversion  of 
Gentiles  had  given  rise.  Chap.  xvi.  1-8  records 
the  apostles'  visits  to  existing  Churches.  The 
vision  of  ver.  9  then  called  them  to  Philippi 
where  (as  probably  at  Lystra)  they  found  no 
synagogue.  But  on  passing  thence  to  Thessa- 
lonica  "  Paul,  as  his  manner  was,"  frequented  the 
synagogue  (xvii.  2).  So  also  at  Berea  (ver.  10), 
and  at  Athens  (ver.  17). 

From  Athens  Paul  came  to  Corinth  where 
"  he  reasoned  in  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath " 
(xviii.  4).  So  also  at  Ephesus  (ver.  19,  and 
xix.  8).  Thence  it  was  he  turned  towards 
Jerusalem  upon  that  mission  which  is  regarded 
by  some  as  the  fulfilment  of  his  ministry,  and 
by  others  as  a  turning  away  from  the  path  of 
testimony  to  the  Gentiles,  seemingly  marked  out 
for  him  to  follow.  Be  this  as  it  may,  having 


APPENDIX  169 

been  carried  a  prisoner  to  Rome,  his  first  care 
was  to  call  together — not  the  Christians,  much 
though  he  longed  to  see  them  (Rom.  i.  10,  n), 
but — "the  chief  of  the  Jews,"  and  to  them  to 
give  the  testimony  which  he  had  brought  to  his 
nation  in  every  place  to  which  his  ministry  had 
led  him.  In  his  introductory  address  to  them 
he  claimed  the  place  of  a  Jew  among  Jews : 
"  I  have  done  nothing  (he  declared)  against  the 
people,  or  the  customs  of  our  fathers"  (xxviii.  17) ; 
but  when  these,  the  Jews  of  Rome,  refused  the 
proffered  mercy,  his  mission  to  his  nation  was  at 
an  end  ;  and  for  the  first  time  separating  himself 
from  them,  he  exclaimed,  "  Well  spake  the  Holy 
Ghost  through  Isaiah  the  prophet  unto  your 
fathers" — and  he  went  on  to  repeat  the  words 
which  our  Lord  Himself  had  used  at  that  kindred 
crisis  of  His  ministry  when  the  nation  had  openly 
rejected  Him  (Acts  xxviii.  25  R.V. ;  Matt.  xiii.  13, 
cf.  xii.  14-16). 

My  contention  is  that  the  Acts,  as  a  whole,  isv 
the  record  of  a  temporary  and  transitional  dispen- 
sation in  which  blessing  was  again  offered  to  the 
Jew  and  again  rejected.  Hence  the  sustained 
emphasis  with  which  the  testimony  to  Israel  is 
narrated,  and  the  incidental  way  in  which  the 
testimony  to  Gentiles  is  treated.  Of  the  thousands 
baptized  at  Pentecost  a  large  proportion  doubtless 
were  of  the  strangers  mentioned  in  ii.  9—11;  and 


i?o  APPENDIX 

these  carried  the  testimony  to  the  Jews  in  all 
the  places  there  enumerated.  The  5,000  men 
mentioned  in  iv.  4  were  apparently  resident  in 
Jerusalem,  and  these,  when  scattered  by  the 
Stephen  persecution,  "went  everywhere  preaching 
the  Word,"  "but  to  the  Jews  only"  (viii.  I,  4,  and 
xi.  19).  Surely  we  may  assume  that  there  was 
not  a  district,  not  a  village,  inhabited  by  Jews, 
where  the  gospel  did  not  come. 

Some,  perhaps,  will  appeal  to  passages  like  Acts 
xv.  12  to  disprove  my  statement  that  miracles  had 
special  reference  to  the  favoured  nation.  The 
careful  student,  however,  will  see  that  nothing  in 
the  narrative  is  inconsistent  with  what  I  have 
urged.  For  example,  the  miracle  at  Lystra  was 
in  response  to  the  faith  of  the  man  who  benefited 
by  it  (xiv.  9),  and  its  effect  on  the  heathen  who 
witnessed  it  was  not  to  lead  them  to  Christianity, 
but  first  to  make  them  pay  Divine  honour  to  the 
apostles,  and  then,  finding  they  were  not  gods  but 
men,  to  stone  them.  I  have  not  said  that  there 
were  no  miracles  wrought  among  the  heathen,  but 
that,  when  the  gospel  was  carried  to  the  heathen, 
miracles  lost  their  prominence,  and  that  they  ceased 
absolutely  just  at  the  time  when,  if  the  recognised 
hypothesis  were  true,  they  would  have  been  of  the 
highest  value.  The  great  miracle  of  xvi.  26  was  a 
Divine  intervention  on  behalf  of  the  apostle.  And 
among  the  Jews  of  Ephesus  (xix.  11)  and  the 


APPENDIX  171 

Christians  of  Corinth  (i  Cor.  xii.  10)  there  were 
miracles,  as  doubtless  elsewhere  also.  But  there 
were  no  miracles  seen  by  Felix  or  Festus  or 
Agrippa ;  and,  as  already  noticed,  when  Paul 
stood  before  Nero  the  era  of  miracles  had  closed. 
The  miracles  of  Acts  xxviii.  8,  9  are  chronologically 
the  last  on  record,  and  the  later  Epistles  are  wholly 
silent  respecting  them. 

NOTE  IV.  (page  87). 

Every  one  recognises  that  the  advent  of  Christ 
marked  a  signal  "  change  of  dispensation,"  as  it  is 
termed  :  that  is,  a  change  in  God's  dealings  with 
men.  But  the  fact  is  commonly  ignored  that  the 
rejection  of  Christ  by  the  favoured  people,  and 
their  fall  in  consequence  from  the  position  of 
privilege  formerly  held  by  them,  marked  another 
change  no  less  definite  and  important  (Rom. 
xi.  15).  And  yet  this  fact  affords  the  solution 
of  many  difficulties  and  a  safeguard  against  many 
errors.  As  indicated  in  these  pages,  it  gives  the 
clew  to  the  right  understanding  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles — a  book  which  is  primarily  the  record, 
not,  as  commonly  supposed,  of  the  founding  of 
the  Christian  Church,  but  of  the  apostasy  of  the 
favoured  nation.  But  it  also  explains  much  that 
perplexes  Christians  in  the  teaching  of  the 
Gospels. 

During  the  last  Carlist  rising  in  Spain  a  wealthy 


172  APPENDIX 

Spanish  marquis  was  said  to  have  mortgaged  his 
entire  estate  to  its  utmost  value,  and  to  have 
thrown  the  proceeds  into  the  war-chest  of  the 
insurrection.  It  was  a  reasonable  act  on  the 
part  of  any  one  who  believed  in  the  Pretender's 
cause.  To  him,  and  to  others  like  him,  the  acces- 
sion of  Don  Carlos  to  the  throne  would  bring 
back  their  own,  and  far  more  besides.  So  was  it 
with  the  disciples  in  days  when  the  kingdom  was 
being  preached  to  the  earthly  people.  Certain  of 
the  Lord's  precepts  had  reference  to  the  special 
circumstances  of  that  special  dispensation.  Take 
"  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount "  for  example.  Our 
Lord  was  there  unfolding  the  principles  of  the 
promised  kingdom,  and  giving  precepts  for  the 
guidance  of  those  who  were  awaiting  its  estab- 
lishment. It  is  all  for  us,  doubtless,  but  not 
always  in  the  same  sense  that  it  was  intended  to 
convey  to  them.  Christians,  for  instance,  pray  the 
kingdom  prayer.  But  with  us  "  Thy  kingdom 
come "  is  a  general  appeal  for  the  advancement 
of  the  Divine  cause  :  with  them  it  was  a  definite 
petition  for  the  near  realisation  of  the  promised 
earthly  reign.  And  what  a  meaning  the  prayer 
for  daily  bread  had  for  those  who  were  enjoined 
to  carry  neither  purse  nor  scrip,  but  to  trust  their 
heavenly  Father  to  feed  them  as  He  feeds  the 
birds ;  for,  like  the  birds,  they  had  "  neither 
storehouse  nor  barn  "  ! 


APPENDIX  173 

Principles  are  unchanging,  but  the  definite  pre- 
cepts recorded  in  such  passages  as  Matt.  v.  39-42 
and  vi.  25-34  were  framed  with  reference  to  thep 
circumstances  of  the  time,  and  to  the  special  testi- 
mony which  the  kingdom  disciple  was  to  maintain. 
The  Christian,  unlike  the  kingdom  disciple  in  this 
respect,  is  entitled  to  defend  himself  against  outrage, 
and  to  resist  any  invasion  of  his  personal  or  civil 
rights ;  and  he  is  expressly  enjoined  to  make 
provision  for  the  future.  Banking,  insurance,  and 
thrift  are  not  forbidden  by  Christianity.  "  Take 
nothing  for  your  journey,"  the  Lord  directed,  as 
He  sent  out  the  Twelve,  "  neither  staves,  nor  scrip, 
nor  bread,  nor  money  ;  neither  have  two  coats " 
(Luke  ix.  3).  And  referring  to  this,  when  He  was 
about  to  be  taken  away  from  them,  He  asked, 
"  When  I  sent  you  without  purse,  and  scrip,  and 
shoes,  lacked  ye  anything  ?  And  they  said,  Nothing. 
Then  said  He  unto  them,  But  now,  he  that  hath  a 
purse,  let  him  take  it,  and  likewise  his  scrip;  and 
he  that  hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  garment  and 
buy  one"  (Luke  xxii.  35,  36). 

What  can  be  plainer  than  this?  In  civilised 
communities,  of  course,  the  State  takes  charge  of 
"  the  sword "  (Rom.  xiii.  4),  and  the  individual 
citizen  is  not  left  to  defend  himself;  but  the 
principle  is  the  same.  One  who  is  "  instructed 
unto  the  kingdom,"  the  Lord  declares,  is  like  "a 
householder  who  brings  out  of  his  treasure  things 


174  APPENDIX 

new  and  old"  (Matt.  xiii.  52).  But  Christians 
nowadays  are  not  thus  "  instructed."  They  are 
rather  like  householders  who,  bringing  out  what- 
ever comes  first  to  their  hand,  give  new  milk  to  their 
guests  and  old  wine  to  their  babies  !  And  as  the 
result  Holy  Scripture  is  brought  into  contempt,  and 
earnest  and  honest-hearted  believers  are  stumbled 
or  perplexed. 

Another  clew  is  needed  to  guide  us  in  the  right 
use  of  the  teaching  of  the  Gospels.  Some  of  the 
Lord's  words  were  addressed  to  the  apostles  as  such, 
and  we  must  remember  this  in  applying  them  to 
ourselves. 

With  reference  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  it 
may  be  asked,  Does  any  one  imagine  our  Lord 
supposed  that  people  would  wish  to  add  twenty 
inches  to  their  height?  Matt.  vi.  27  should  no 
doubt  be  read  as  the  American  Revisers  render  it, 
"  Which  of  you  by  taking  thought  can  add  one 
cubit  to  the  measure  of  his  life  ? " 

NOTE  V.  (page  109). 

The  primary  and  usual  meaning  of  jivarfipiov 
in  Biblical  Greek  is  indicated  by  its  use  in  the 
Septuagint.  It  occurs  eight  times  in  the  second 
chapter  of  Daniel  (verses  18,  19,  27,  28,  29,  30,  47 
(twice),  and  again  in  chap.  iv.  9),  and  in  every  case 
it  is  translated  secret  in  our  English  version.  The 
word  occurs  also  in  the  Apocrypha,  and  always  in 


APPENDIX  175 

this  same  sense.  This,  too,  is  its  ordinary  use  in 
the  New  Testament ;  but  the  word  was  then 
already  acquiring  the  further  meaning  which 
belongs  to  it  in  the  writings  of  the  Greek  Fathers, 
namely,  a  symbol  or  secret  sign.  And  in  this  sense 
it  appears  to  be  used  in  Rev.  i.  20  and  xvii.  5,  7. 
In  chap.  x.  7  it  occurs  in  its  earlier  meaning.  So 
also  apparently  in  Eph.  v.  32,  though  the  Vulgate 
understands  it  differently,  using  the  word  sacra- 
mentum  to  translate  it.  If  it  is  to  be  read  in  the 
one  way,  the  secret  referred  to  is  that  believers  are 
members  of  the  Body  of  Christ:  if  in  the  other 
way,  marriage  is  the  symbol  intended. 

The  Latin  version  of  Eph.  v.  32  is  of  special 
interest  as  indicating  the  original  meaning  of 
sacrament^  as  "  a  mystery  ;  a  mysterious  or  holy 
,  token  or  pledge  "  (Webster).  Bishop  Taylor  thus 
speaks  of  God  sending  His  people  "  the  sacrament 
of  a  rainbow."  And  Hooker  writes:  "As  often  as 
we  mention  a  sacrament,  it  is  improperly  under- 
stood ;  for  in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  fathers 
all  articles  which  are  peculiar  to  Christian  faith, 
all  duties  of  religion  containing  that  which  sense  or 
natural  reason  cannot  of  itself  discern,  are  most 
commonly  named  sacraments.  Our  restraint  of  the 
word  to  some  few  principal  Divine  ceremonies 
importeth  in  every  such  ceremony  two  things,  the 
substance  of  the  ceremony  itself,  which  is  visible ; 
and  besides  that,  something  else  more  secret,  in 


iy6  APPENDIX 

reference  whereunto  we  conceive  that  ceremony  to 
be  a  sacrament" 

In  this  passage,  it  will  be  noticed,  the  word  is 
used  precisely  in  the  secondary  sense  assigned  to 
it  in  Johnson's  "  Dictionary,"  viz.,  "  An  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace." 
Johnson's  first  meaning  of  the  word  is  "  an  oath  "  ; 
and  the  Latin  word  sacramentum  may  possibly 
have  acquired  that  meaning  on  account  of  some 
outward  act  or  sign  which  accompanied  the  taking 
of  an  oath.  According  to  Hooker's  use  of  the  word 
sacrament,  the  English  practice  of  kissing  the 
Testament  would  be  so  described. 

NOTE  VI.  (page  118). 

If  the  reader  will  take  up  the  New  Testament, 
and  with  the  help  of  a  good  concordance  turn  to 
every  passage  where  the  devil  is  mentioned  or 
referred  to,  he  will  be  startled  to  find  how  little 
there  is  to  give  even  a  seeming  support  to  the 
popular  superstition  upon  this  subject.  Three 
passages  only  can  I  find  that  seem  to  suggest  that 
Satan  tempts  to  acts  of  immorality.  Of  I  John  iii. 
8-10,  I  have  already  spoken.  The  other  two  are 
I  Cor.  vii.  5,  and  I  Tim.  v.  15  ;  and  with  these 
I  will  deal  presently. 

In  the  temptation  of  our  Lord  there  was  of  course 
no  question  of  morality.  The  devil's  aim  was  to 
draw  Him  away  from  the  path  of  dependence  upon 


APPENDIX  177 

God,  and  specially  to  divert  Him  from  the  path 
which  led  to  the  Cross.  It  was  this  also  which 
brought  such  a  terrible  rebuke  upon  Peter  when 
the  Lord  addressed  him  as  "  Satan  "  (Matt.  xvi.  23). 
And  when  Satan  asked  to  have  Peter  (as  he  had 
asked  to  have  Job)  it  was  his  faith  he  sought  to 
destroy.  "  I  made  supplication  for  thee,"  the  Lord 
added,  "that  thy  faith  fail  not"  (Luke  xxii.  31, 
32  R.V.). 

And  with  the  memory  of  this  before  him  no 
doubt  it  was  that  the  apostle  wrote  the  words, 
"  Your  adversary  the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh 
about,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour  :  whom  with- 
stand stedfast  in  your  faith"  (i  Pet.  v.  8).  In  the 
parable  of  the  tares  in  the  field,  it  is  the  devil  who 
sows  the  tares  (Matt.  xiii.  39).  And  in  the  parable 
of  the  sower  the  devil's  work  is  described  as  taking 
away  the  word  out  of  the  hearts  of  those  who  hear 
it,  "  lest  they  should  believe  and  be  saved."  And 
if  Elymas  the  sorcerer  was  called  a  "  son  of  the 
devil,"  it  was  because  of  his  "  seeking  to  turn  aside 
the  proconsul  from  the  faith  "  (Acts  xiii.  8,  10). 

Two  passages  indicate  his  mysterious  "  power  of 
death,"  viz.,  Heb.  ii.  14,  and  Jude  9,  which  tells 
of  his  claiming  as  of  right  the  body  of  Moses. 
And  two  passages  again  indicate  his  power  of 
inflicting  disease  and  pain,  namely,  Luke  xiii.  16, 
and  Acts  x.  38,  but  these  may  probably  be  ex- 
plained by  reference  to  the  case  of  Job. 


i;8  APPENDIX 

In  Rev.  xii.  9  (R.V.),  he  is  called  "the  deceiver of 
the  whole  world  "  (cf.  Rev.  xx.  10) ;  and  in  that  book 
he  is  represented  as  the  leader  in  the  great  coming 
struggle  between  faith  and  unfaith,  between  the 
acknowledgment  of  God  and  the  denial  of  Him. 
There  is  no  need  to  quote  the  many  passages  which 
indicate  his  malignant  hatred  of  God  and  of  His 
people,  but  if  he  be  the  obscene  monster  of  Christian 
tradition,  how  is  it  that,  from  cover  to  cover,  the 
Bible  is  silent  on  the  subject?  In  his  "devices" 
upon  men  the  Satan  of  Scripture  is  the  enemy,  not 
of  morals,  but  of  faith. 

And  if  in  view  of  the  mass  of  testimony  leading 
to  this  conclusion  we  turn  back  to  the  two  passages 
above  cited,  we  shall  be  prepared  to  read  them  in  a 
new  light  In  I  Tim.  v.  we  shall  read  verse  15  in 
the  light  of  verse  12.  The  "turning  aside  after 
Satan  "  there  referred  to  is  "  the  setting  at  nought 
their  first  faithr  And  the  Christian  will  not  hesi- 
tate to  follow  Calvin  in  understanding  the  "  faith  " 
here  intended  as  the  faith  of  Christ.  The  word 
Tnoroc  occurs  two  hundred  times  in  the  Epistles  ; 
and  in  this  sense  only  is  it  used,  with  the  solitary 
exception  of  Tit.  ii.  10.  There  is  the  very  strongest 
presumption  therefore  against  the  suggestion  that 
here  it  means  no  more  than  a  woman's  "  troth  "  to 
her  dead  husband.  Such  a  suggestion,  moreover, 
makes  the  apostle  contradict  himself.  It  makes 
him  say  that  young  widows  "  have  condemnation  " 


APPENDIX  179 

because  they  wish  to  marry  again ;  and  yet 
he  ends  by  expressly  enjoining  that  they  are  to 
marry  again!  (ver.  14  R.V.).  Verses  11-13  giye 
his  reasons  for  that  injunction.  The  passage  is 
incidentally  an  overwhelming  condemnation  of 
nunneries,  but  the  usual  construction  put  upon  it 
is  an  outrage  upon  Holy  Writ  and  a  gross  libel 
upon  women.  And  I  may  add  that  if  that  con- 
struction were  the  true  one  the  limit  of  age  at 
which  widows  were  to  be  provided  for  would 
certainly  have  been  fixed  much  earlier  than  sixty. 

The  expressions  "  waxing  wanton  against  Christ," 
and  "  turning  aside  after  Satan,"  are  to  be  explained 
by  reference  to  the  Scriptural  standard  of  spiritual 
life  and  the  Scriptural  theology  of  Satanic  tempta- 
tions. So  also  of  i  Cor.  vii.  5.  The  solemn  practical 
lesson  there  to  be  learned  is  that  any  departure 
from  prudence  and  propriety  may  give  Satan  an 
advantage — an  occasion  to  undermine  or  corrupt 
the  Christian's  faith. 

As  for  Ananias,  his  story  is  so  misread  that  the 
lesson  of  it  is  lost  to  the  Church.  He  was  not  a 
bad  man,  but  a  good  man.  In  the  enthusiasm  of 
his  zeal  he  sold  his  landed  property  that  he  might 
devote  the  proceeds  to  the  common  fund.  But 
here  the  suggestion  presented  itself  to  him  to  put 
aside  a  portion  for  his  own  use.  His  wife  was  in 
the  plot,  and  boldly  lied  to  conceal  it.  But 
Ananias  spoke  no  lie,  he  only  acted  one,  as  people 


i8o  APPENDIX 

are  used  to  do  nowadays.  If  he  lived  to-day  he 
would  be  held  in  the  highest  repute.  Indeed  there 
are  few  to  be  found  in  these  selfish  days  who 
could  compare  with  him.  The  moral  is  not  the 
wickedness  of  man  but  the  holiness  and  "  severity  " 
of  God,  and  the  subtlety  of  Satanic  temptations. 
Satan  tempted  him,  not  to  a  vicious  or  "  immoral  " 
act,  but  only  to  do  what,  as  the  apostle  said,  he  had 
an  unquestionable  right  to  do.  He  did  not  lie  to 
men — so  the  Word  expressly  tells  us — but  he  lied 
to  God,  and  swift  judgment  fell  on  him.  If  God 
were  dealing  thus  with  men  in  our  day,  the  number 
of  the  burials  would  be  a  serious  difficulty  ! 

To  the  case  of  Judas  I  have  not  expressly 
referred,  because  it  so  obviously  falls  within  the 
category  of  temptations  aimed  directly  against 
Christ  Himself. 

NOTE  VII.  (page  123). 

The  exegesis  here  offered  of  John  viii.  44  is 
not  based  on  the  grammar  of  the  Greek  article. 
The  revisers  have  adopted  an  unsatisfactory 
compromise  between  exposition  and  translation. 
"To  speak  a  lie"  is  not  English.  In  our  lan- 
guage the  proper  expression  is  "  to  tell  a  lie." 
But  no  one  would  so  render  the  Greek  words 
AaXav  ro  7ro-£uSoe  ;  and  by  inserting  in  the 
margin  the  old  and  discarded  gloss,  the  revisers 
only  betray  their  dissatisfaction  with  their  own 


APPENDIX  181 

reading.  The  words  must  mean  either  some 
definite  lie,  or  else  in  the  abstract  sense  the 
whole  range  of  what  is  false.  (See  Psa.  v.  6 
LXX).  In  this  view  of  the  passage  all  speech 
would  be  regarded  as  divided  between  truth 
and  falsehood — God-speech  and  devil-speech. 
But  this  is  somewhat  fanciful  here,  and,  in 
regard  to  the  words  which  follow,  somewhat 
forced.  And  if,  as  I  venture  to  urge,  it  is  not 
the  false  in  the  abstract  which  is  here  in  view, 
but  a  concrete  instance  of  it,  the  question  of 
grammar  is  no  longer  open.  And,  thus  rendered, 
the  connection  is  clear  between  Satan  the  liar 
and  Satan  the  murderer.  He  is  not  the  instigator 
to  all  murders,  but  to  the  murder  there  and  then 
in  question,  the  murder  of  the  Christ ;  he  is  not 
the  father  of  lies,  but  the  father  of  the  lie  of 
which  "  the  murder  "  is  the  natural  consequence. 
In  Rom.  i.  25,  where  both  words  ("  truth " 
and  "  lie ")  have  the  article,  I  suppose  both  are 
used  in  the  abstract  sense.  In  Rev.  xxi.  27  and 
xxii.  1 5  the  word  "  lie "  is  anarthrous.  But  in 
2  Thess.  ii.  1 1  it  is  again  the  lie  of  John  viii.  44. 
The  Lawless  One  who  is  yet  to  be  revealed,  is 
described  as  he  "  whose  coming  is  after  the  working 
of  Satan  with  all  power  and  signs  and  lying 
wonders."  God  does  not  incite  men  to  tell  lies 
or  to  believe  lies.  But  of  those  who  reject  "  the 
truth  "  it  is  written,  "  He  shall  send  them  strong 


182  APPENDIX 

delusion  that  they  should  believe  the  lie."  Be- 
cause they  have  rejected  the  Christ  of  God,  a 
judicial  blindness  shall  fall  upon  them  that  they 
shall  accept  the  Christ  of  humanity,  who  will  be 
Satan  incarnate. 

In  these  pages  I  have  kept  clear  of  prophecy, 
for  they  are  addressed  in  part  to  those  who 
have  no  belief  in  prophecy.  But  if  the  prophetic 
student  will  shake  himself  free  from  the  Satan 
myth  he  will  find  the  Divine  forecast  of  the  future 
become  radiant  with  new  light.  Terrible  wars 
are  yet  to  convulse  the  nations,  bringing  famine 
in  their  train.  But  the  coming  Man  will  bring 
peace  to  the  world.  He  will  command  universal 
homage  not  merely  by  reason  of  his  Satanic 
miraculous  powers,  but  because  of  his  splendid 
human  qualities.  The  adherents  of  "  the  truth " 
will,  alone  of  all  the  race,  have  cause  to  mourn 
his  sovereignty.  His  reign  will  be  the  era  of 
man's  "  millennium,"  a  time  of  order  and  pros- 
perity unparalleled,  when  the  arts  of  peace  shall 
flourish,  and  the  Utopias  of  philosophers  and 
socialists  will  be  realised.  And  that  the  Satan 
cult  which  will  then  prevail  on  earth  will  be 
marked  by  a  high  morality  and  a  specious 
"  form  of  godliness,"  is  plainly  indicated  by  the 
warning  that,  but  for  Divine  grace,  it  would 
"  deceive  the  very  elect."  It  is  also,  I  venture 
to  think,  plainly  foreshadowed  by  current  events. 


APPENDIX  183 

Christians  are  trifling  with  sceptical  attacks  upon 
Scripture.  But  the  real  issue  involved  in  these 
attacks  is  the  Divinity  of  Christ ;  and  I  venture 
to  predict  that  those  of  us  who  shall  live  for 
another  quarter  of  a  century,  shall  yet  witness 
a  widespread  abandonment  of  that  great  truth 
by  many  of  the  Churches.  The  decline  of  faith 
during  the  last  five-and-twenty  years  has  been 
appalling,  and  we  are  already  within  measur- 
able distance  of  a  more  general  acceptance  of 
the  Satan  cult  —  a  religion  marked  by  a  high 
morality  and  an  earnest  philanthropy,  but  wholly 
devoid  of  all  that  is  distinctively  Christian.  "Free 
from  dogma "  is  the  favourite  expression  :  and 
this  "  freedom  "  means  the  ignoring  of  the  great 
truths  of  Christianity. 


NOTE  VIII.  (page  144). 

According  to  English  law  "  the  Lord's  day  " — 
as  Sunday  is  designated  in  the  old  statutes — 
is  a  day  on  which  no  judge  or  magistrate  may 
sit,  and  no  jury  may  be  empanelled.  The  criminal 
may  be  taken  red-handed,  but  all  that  the  law 
may  do  is  to  hold  him  in  ward  until  the  day  of 
grace  has  run  its  course,  and  a  competent  tribunal 
may  adjudicate  upon  his  crime.  If  our  law  went 
further  in  the  same  direction,  and  the  functions 
of  the  constable  also  were  suspended,  it  would 


184  APPENDIX 

afford  an  apter  illustration  of  the  great  truth  that 
is  here  in  question.  But  to  make  the  parable 
complete,  we  must  go  even  further  still,  and 
suppose  not  only  that  the  criminal  enjoys  for 
the  moment  freedom  even  from  arrest,  but  that 
there  is  an  amnesty  in  force  by  which  he  may 
secure  absolute  immunity  from  all  the  conse- 
quences of  his  crime. 

But  to  hold  such  language  is  to  speak  in  an 
unknown  tongue  ;  and  to  turn  to  the  words  of 
Scripture  in  support  of  it  is  to  risk  losing  men's 
attention  altogether.  The  mystery  of  the  gospel 
is  that  God  can  justify  a  sinner,  and  yet  be  just. 
He  justifies  the  ungodly.  "To  him  that  worketh 
not,  but  believeth  in  Him  that  justifieth  the  un- 
godly, his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness" 
(Rom.  iv.  5).  Here  is  another  kindred  statement  : 
"The  grace  of  God  hath  appeared  salvation- 
bringing  to  all  men."  And  the  passage  proceeds  : 
"  For  we  also  were  aforetime  foolish,  disobedient, 
deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures,  living 
in  malice  and  envy,  hateful,  hating  one  another. 
But  when  the  kindness  of  God  our  Saviour,  and 
His  love-toward-man,  appeared,  not  by  works 
done  in  righteousness,  which  we  did  ourselves, 
but  according  to  His  mercy  He  saved  us"  (Tit.  ii. 
11,  12,  and  iii.  2-5).  Or  if  any  would  wish  to 
have  words  spoken  by  the  lips  of  our  blessed 
Lord  Himself,  they  will  be  found  in  many  a 


APPENDIX  185 

passage  of  the  Gospels.  Here,  for  example,  is 
His  testimony  to  Nicodemus  :  "  For  God  so  loved 
the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 

Are  we  not  justified,  then,  in  saying  that  for- 
giveness and  eternal  life  are  brought  within  reach 
of  all  ;  that  heaven  is  made  as  free  to  sinful  men 
as  infinite  love  and  grace  can  make  it  ?  If  words 
have  any  meaning,  this,  and  nothing  less  than  this/ 
is  the  truth.  But  how  is  this  gospel  treated  ?  In 
the  minds  of  the  religious  it  excites  the  utmost 
indignation.  They  no  longer  burn  men  at  the 
stake  for  proclaiming  it,  as  in  darker  days  they 
used  to  do,  but  though  their  anger  shows  itself  in 
gentler  ways  it  is  just  as  real.  And  upon  com- 
mon men  it  makes  no  impression  whatever.  A 
man  once  stood  on  London  Bridge,  for  a  wager, 
offering  real  sovereigns  for  a  shilling  each.  The 
notice  he  displayed  was  plainly  worded,  and  it 
was  read  by  hundreds  of  the  passers-by.  But  by 
all  it  was  read  incredulously,  and  therefore  with 
indifference.  He  won  his  wager  :  not  a  single  coin 
was  taken  from  him  !  And  for  the  same  reason 
"  the  ^gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  "  is  ignored.  It 
will  be  thus  ignored  by  hundreds  who  will  read 
these  pages.  Men  are  possessed  by  the  belief  that 
eternal  life  can  be  attained  only  upon  impracticable 
conditions,  and  so  their  attitude  towards  the  whole 


T86  APPENDIX 

matter  is  one  of  apathy.  But  apathy  gives  place 
to  anger  if  any  one  dares  to  speak  of  eternal 
judgment  and  a  hell  for  the  impenitent.  No 
blasphemy  can  be  too  daring  to  hurl  at  a  God 
who  would  not  bring  a  sinner  to  heaven  in  the 
same  way  a  constable  brings  a  drunken  prisoner 
to  the  lock-up — without  his  will,  or,  if  needs  be, 
against  his  will ! 

But  man,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  is  endowed 
with  a  will,  and  to  that  will  the  Divine  appeal  is 
addressed.  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  Me  that  ye 
might  have  life  "  was  the  Lord's  yearning  entreaty 
to  those  who  listened  to  His  words,  but  refused 
to  give  heed  to  them.  "  Whosoever  will,  let  him 
take  the  water  o.f  life  freely."  God's  own  heaven 
is  the  home  to  which  He  is  calling  sinful  men. 
Hell  has  been  prepared,  not  for  such,  but  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels.  But  if  men  refuse  Christ  and 
take  sides  with  Satan,  they  must  reap  what  they 
sow. 

NOTE  IX.  (page  153). 

"  Of  what  value,  then,  is  prayer?  "  some  one  will 
ask,  and  "  What  place  is  there  for  it?  "  It  is  with 
extreme  diffidence  that  I  venture  to  give  expres- 
sion to  thoughts  on  this  subject  which  have  long 
taken  possession  of  my  own  mind.  And  1  do  so 
only  because  it  may  possibly  bring  relief  to  many 


APPENDIX  187 

who  are  sorely  distressed  at  the  seeming  failure  of 
the  prayer-promises  of  the  Gospels.  Words  could 
not  be  plainer  than  those  in  which  our  Lord  im- 
pressed on  His  disciples  that  Almighty  power  was 
absolutely  at  their  disposal,  if  only  they  had  faith. 
When  they  wondered  that  the  fig-tree  withered  at 
His  word,  He  told  them  that  they  too  could  com- 
mand this,  or  even  the  moving  of  a  mountain.  And 
He  added, "  And  all  things  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask 
in  prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  receive  "  (Matt.  xxi. 
20-22).  How  many  there  are  who  in  intensest 
earnestness  have  claimed  such  promises,  and  have 
reaped  bitter  disappointment  which  has  staggered 
their  faith !  It  is  easy  of  course  to  explain  the 
failure  by  reading  into  the  promise  conditions  of 
one  kind  or  another,  though  the  Lord  Himself 
made  no  conditions  whatever.  But  instead  of 
tampering  thus  with  His  words,  let  us  consider 
whether  the  true  solution  of  the  difficulty  may  not 
be  found  in  the  truth  which  these  pages  have 
endeavoured  to  unfold. 

And  here  the  striking  fact  claims  attention  that 
while  the  record  of  the  Pentecostal  dispensation 
presents  us  with  the  practical  counterpart  of  all 
such  promises,  the  Epistles,  which  unfold  the  doc- 
trine of  the  present  dispensation,  and  describe 
the  life  which  befits  that  doctrine — the  life  of 
faith  —  inculcate  thoughts  about  prayer  which 
are  essentially  different,  and  which  are  entirely 


i88  APPENDIX 

in   accord  with  the  actual  experience  of  spiritual 
Christians.1 

Some  perhaps  may  urge  that  while  the  earlier 
Gospels  may  thus  be  explained,  6Y.  John  cannot 
be  treated  in  this  way.  I  can  in  reply  but  plead 
with  the  thoughtful  reader  to  consider  whether 
every  word  addressed  to  the  apostles  is  intended 
to  apply  to  all  believers  at  all  times.  Take  John 
xiv.  12  as  a  test  of  this.  Is  every  believer  to  be 
endowed  with  miraculous  powers  equal  to  or 
greater  than  those  exercised  by  the  Lord  Him- 
self? We  are  prepared  at  once  to  limit  the  scope 
of  such  words  :  is  it  so  clear,  then,  that  the  words 
which  immediately  follow  are  of  universal  applica- 
tion ?  We  have  the  fact,  I  repeat,  that  both  these 
promises  were  proved  to  be  true  in  the  Pentecostal 
dispensation,  and  that  neither  has  been  proved  to 
be  true  in  the  Christian  Church.2  So  also  of 
chap.  xv.  16,  and  of  xvi.  23,  &c. 

But,  it  will  be  asked,  Is  not  the  promise  explicitly 
repeated  in  St.  John's  First  Epistle  (i  John  iii.  22 
and  v.  14,  15)  ?  I  think  not.  It  seems  to  me  that 
the  apostles  were  in  a  special  sense  empowered  both 

1  James  v.  13  may  seem  to  be  an  exception.     But  without  raising 
the  question  where  "  the  Elders  of  the  Church  "  are  to  be  found  in 
our  day,  it  may  suffice  to  notice  that  this  Epistle,  being  expressly 
addressed    to   Israel  (chap.  i.    i),   belongs  dispensationally   to   the 
Pentecostal  era,  which  will  be  renewed  when  Israel  is  restored. 

2  See  Chap.  V.  ante.     I  am  convinced  that  they  will  be  equally 
true  in  a  dispensation  which  is  still  future  ;  but  I  do  not  enter  on 
such  topics  here. 


APPENDIX  189 

to  act  and  to  pray  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
whereas  the  Christian  should  bow  in  presence  of 
the  words,  u  according  to  His  will."  As  Dean 
Alford  here  remarks,  "  If  we  knew  His  will 
thoroughly,  and  submitted  to  it  heartily,  it  would 
be  impossible  for  us  to  ask  anything,  for  the  spirit 
or  for  the  body,  which  He  should  not  hear  and 
perform.  And  it  is  this  ideal  state,  as  always, 
which  the  apostle  has  in  view."  But  the  Christian 
too  commonly  makes  his  own  longings,  or  his 
supposed  interests,  and  not  the  Divine  will,  the 
basis  of  his  prayer  ;  he  goes  on  to  persuade  him- 
self that  his  request  will  be  granted ;  he  then 
regards  this  "  faith  "  as  a  pledge  that  he  has  been 
heard  ;  and  finally,  when  the  issue  belies  his  con- 
fident hopes,  he  gives  way  to  bitterness  and  un- 
belief. True  faith  is  always  prepared  for  a  refusal. 
Some,  we  read,  "  through  faith,"  "  obtained  pro- 
mises "  ;  but,  no  less  "  through  faith,"  "  others  were 
tortured,  not  accepting  deliverance." 

Some,  perhaps,  may  think  it  a  sufficient  refuta- 
tion of  all  this  to  appeal  to  what  are  called  "striking 
answers  to  prayer,"  such  as  certain  Christians  have 
experienced  in  every  age.  But  the  appeal  refutes 
itself.  They  are  justly  regarded  as  "  striking 
answers  "  precisely  because  they  are  exceptional. 
No  one  may  dare  to  limit  what  God  will  do  for 
the  believer.  But  to  make  the  experience  of  some 
the  standard  of  faith  for  all  is  one  of  the  greatest 


190  APPENDIX 

errors  and  snares  of  Christian  life.  If  these 
promises  are  of  universal  application,  the  fact 
that  any  answer  to  prayer  should  be  considered 
striking  in  any  sense  is  proof  of  general  apostasy. 
A  detailed  examination  of  the  passages  in  the 
Epistles  which  refer  to  this  subject  would  far  ex- 
ceed the  limits  of  a  note.  One  more  may  suffice. 
I  allude  to  the  familiar  words  of  Phil.  iv.  6,  7  :  "In 
nothing  be  anxious  ;  but  in  everything  by  prayer 
and  supplication  with  thanksgiving  let  your  re- 
quests be  made  known  unto  God.  And  the  peace 
of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall 
guard  your  hearts  and  your  thoughts  in  Christ 
Jesus"  (R.V.).  It  is  a  solemn  thing  to  make 
unconditioned  demands  upon  God.  To  the 
record  of  such  prayers  may  often  be  added  the 
solemn  words :  "  He  gave  them  their  request, 
but  sent  leanness  into  their  soul."  Hezekiah 
prayed  in  this  way.  He  claimed  a  prolongation 
of  his  life,  and  God  granted  his  petition ;  and  the 
added  years  gave  him  his  son  Manasseh,  and  the 
consequences  of  Manasseh's  sin  (that  God  "  would 
not  pardon  ")  still  rest  as  a  blight  and  a  curse  upon 
that  nation  !  Such  a  prayer,  I  make  bold  to  say, 
is  unfitting  to  the  Christian.  How  different  the 
teaching  of  the  Divine  Spirit!  It  may  be  the 
life  of  husband  or  wife,  of  parent  or  child,  that  is 
in  the  balance :  what  then  shall  be  the  believer's 
attitude  ?  To  claim  it,  as  Hezekiah  did,  and  chance 


APPENDIX  191 

the  awful  risks  which  the  answer  may  entail  ?  Or 
"  by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiving," 
to  leave  the  request  with  God  ;  and  having  thus  left 
it  all  with  Him,  to  trust  His  love  and  wisdom  with 
the  issue?  It  was  thus  the  apostle  prayed,  when 
he  sought  relief  from  that  mysterious  hindrance  to 
his  ministry  ;  and  the  denial  of  his  request,  instead 
of  bringing  bitterness  of  soul,  only  served  to  teach 
him  more  of  u  the  power  of  Christ "  (2  Cor.  xii. 
8,  9).  Above  all  it  was  thus  the  Master  prayed  in 
the  garden  of  Gethsemane  (Matt.  xxvi.  39,  42). 

The  prayer  of  the  Pentecostal  age  was  like 
drawing  cheques  to  be  paid  in  coin  over  the 
counter.  The  prayer  of  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion— that  is,  of  the  life  of  faith — is  to  make  known 
our  requests  to  God,  and  to  be  at  peace.  If  the 
matter  were  one  within  the  power  of  a  friend 
to  deal  with — a  friend  whose  wisdom  we  could 
trust  and  of  whose  love  we  were  assured — should 
we  not  be  content  to  say,  after  telling  him  all, 
"  Now  you  know  my  feelings  and  my  wishes,  and 
I  leave  the  case  entirely  in  your  hands."  And  this 
is  just  what  God  invites. 

NOTE  X.  (page  160). 

The  sceptic  seldom  admits  that  any  position 
once  held  by  him  is  untenable,  and  a  signal  ex- 
ception to  this  is  deserving  of  special  notice.  Not 


192  APPENDIX 

content  with  making  havoc  of  the  Old  Testament, 
criticism  has  long  been  "  running  amuck  "  through 
the  New  Testament  also.  "  It  has  been  demon- 
strated "  (says  a  recent  writer)  "  that  the  selection 
of  the  books  composing  it  and  their  separation 
from  the  vast  mass  of  spurious  gospels,  epistles, 
and  apocalyptic  literature  was  a  gradual  process, 
and,  indeed,  that  the  rejection  of  some  books  and 
the  acceptance  of  others  was  accidental." I  But 
all  this  is  now  exploded  by  the  greatest  living 
authority  upon  the  subject,  Professor  Harnack  of 
Berlin.  And  his  testimony  is  all  the  more  telling 
because  he  gives  no  sign  of  repentance  as  regards 
his  utter  rejection  of  Christianity.  Himself  the 
foremost  champion  of  unorthodoxy,  he  freely  owns 
that  in  this  matter  the  critics  are  wrong  and  the 
orthodox  are  right.  Here  is  an  extract  from  the 
preface  to  his  recent  work  on  "  The  Chronology  of 
the  oldest  Christian  Literature  "  : — 

1  Mr.  Andrew  D.  White's  "  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology," 
vol.  ii.  p.  388.  This  writer's  appointment  to  the  American 
Embassy  at  Berlin  will  no  doubt  call  increased  attention  to  his 
book.  Real  forensic  skill  is  apparent  in  the  use  he  makes  of  his 
great  erudition  ;  for,  allowing  for  one  important  omission,  his  work 
is  quite  encyclopedic.  His  indictment  of  "theology"  is  over- 
whelming, and  with  much  of  it  I  am  of  course  in  thorough 
sympathy.  But  of  Christianity ',  so  far  as  appears  from  his  treatise, 
he  knows  absolutely  nothing.  To  him  our  Divine  Lord  is  merely 
"the  Blessed  Founder"  of  the  Christian  religion — the  Buddha  of 
Christendom.  Indeed  he  belongs  to  that  large  class  of  persons 
who,  without  offence,  may  be  aptly  described  as  Christianised 
Buddhists. 


APPENDIX  193 

"  There  was  a  time — the  general  public  indeed 
has  not  got  beyond  it — in  which  the  oldest  Chris- 
tian literature,  including  the  New  Testament,  was 
looked  upon  as  a  tissue  of  deceptions  and  forgeries. 
That  time  is  passed.  For  science  it  was  an  episode 
in  which  it  learned  much,  and  after  which  it  has 
much  to  forget.  The  results,  however,  of  the 
fallowing  investigations  go  in  a  '  reactionary ' 
direction,  beyond  what  can  be  described  as  the 
middle  position  of  present-day  criticism.  The 
oldest  Literature  of  the  Church  in  all  main  points  ^ 
and  in  most  details,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
literary  criticism,  is  genuine  and  trustworthy.  In 
the  whole  New  Testament  there  is  in  all  prob- 
ability only  a  single  writing  which  can  be  looked 
upon  as  pseudonymous  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
word — i.e.,  the  Second  Epistle  of  Peter." 

This  is  but  one  of  many  proofs  that  the  tide  has 
turned  which  in  recent  years  has  threatened  to 
undermine  the  Christian  faith.  In  the  scepticism  ( 
of  the  day  there  is  nothing  distinctive  save  that  so 
many  of  its  champions  are  men  who  are  publicly 
pledged  and  subsidised  to  teach  what  they  deny. 
It  is  only  the  unstable  and  the  ignorant  who  are 
overwhelmed  by  a  book  like  that  above  cited.1 
Neither  the  well-instructed  nor  the  spiritual  can 
be  thus  led  to  reject  the  Bible  as  a  fraud  and 

1   "  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology." 
14 


194  APPENDIX 

Christianity  as  a  superstition.  They  can  under- 
stand the  difference  between  a  Divine  revelation 
and  human  comments  and  commentaries.  To 
take  a  single  example — they  do  not  regard  the 
Ussher-Lloyd  Chronology  in  the  margin  of  our 
English  Bible  as  "  equally  inspired  with  the  sacred 
text  itself."  I  And  while  refusing  to  accept  open- 
mouthed  the  wild  conjectures  of  certain  Egypto- 
logists as  to  the  antiquity  of  ancient  dynasties,  they 
recognise  that  the  "  conjectural  periods  "  between 
the  Deluge  and  the  Kingdom  must  be  largely 
extended. 

If  we  eliminate  the  blunders  of  theologians  and 
"  reconcilers  "  on  the  one  hand  and  the  theories 
(as  distinguished  from  the  facts)  of  science  on  the 
other,  a  ponderous  treatise  like  Mr.  A.  D.  White's 
would  be  reduced  to  very  small  proportions.  The 
whole  "  Mosaic  Cosmogony  "  controversy  is  ruled 
out  at  once,  and  many  questions  which  seem  of 
serious  moment  shrink  into  the  background  or 
entirely  disappear.  Moreover,  there  is  in  Holy 
Scripture  a  "  hidden  harmony  "  unknown  to  those 
who  ignore  the  scheme  of  type  and  prophecy 
which  permeates  the  whole.  This  study  is  a  sure 
antidote  to  scepticism.  No  student  of  prophecy 
is  a  sceptic.  And  as  regards  the  typology  of 
Scripture,  which  is  the  alphabet  of  the  language 

1  "  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,"  vol.  i.  p.  253. 


APPENDIX  195 

in  which  the  New  Testament  is  written,  there  is 
not  one  of  the  rationalists  who  has  given  proof  of 
possessing  any  knowledge  whatever.  Ignorance 
of  the  alphabet  is  a  fatal  defect  in  those  who  claim 
to  expound  the  text ;  and  this  ignorance,  which 
Hengstenberg  deplored  in  his  day,  is  still  absolute 
in  the  case  of  all  without  exception  who  are 
seeking  to  prove  that  the  Bible  is  but  a  human 
book.  "  Truth  brings  out  the  hidden  harmony, 
when  unbelief  can  only,  with  a  dull  dogmatism, 
deny." 


INDEX 


Acts  of  the  Apostles,  scope  and 

purpose  of  the,  49-60,  63,  76, 

84,  166-170,  171 
Alford,   Dean,   37,    76;;,    107;;, 

189 

Ananias,  14,  77,  118,  179 
Angels,  fallen,  119 

,,        the  herald,  13,  147 
Aristotle's  Rhet.,  ggn 
Armenian  massacres,  the,  3,  4 
Atheism,  19,  64 

Balfour,  Mr.  A.  J.,  24,  25,  64;;, 

67 

Bampton  Lectures  1864,  52 
Baur,  F.  C.,  71,  72 
Believing  in  Christ,  meaning  of, 

104,  151 

Bible,  the,  92-95,  157 
Buddhism,  68,  70,  124;;,  15  iw 
Burke,  Edmund,  647* 
Butler,  Bishop,  36,  37,  39 

Calvin,  Ii6«,  178 
Carlist  insurrection,  171 
Christ,  advent  of,  11-13,  I7I 

,,       divinity  of,  22,  183 

,,       lordship  of,  151 


Christ,  testimony  of  the    Bible 

to,  41,  43,  44 
Christianity,    character,    of,   36, 

43,  66,  67,  69,  70,  173 
Chronology  of  the  Bible,  194 
Church,   authority  of   the,   91- 

93 
Church  of  England,  teaching  of, 

93" 

Cicero,  61 
Cross,  the,  73,  74,  139,  150,  156 

"  Deacons,  the,"  77 
Demons,  118,  163 
Devil,  the,  118-131,  176-180 
,,          see  "Satan  " 

"  Essays  and  Reviews,"  21 
Eternal     life,     how     obtained, 
98-104,  116,  144,  185 

Fairbairn,  Dr.,  71-72 
Faith,  see  "Believing" 
Faith-healing,  164,  165 
Froude,  J.  A.,  61,  66 

Gladstone,     Mr.     W.     E.,    25, 
28;/,  30 


197 


198 


INDEX 


Grace,  99 

Greg,  W.  R.,  96,  100 

Harnack,  Prof.,  192 
Hengstenberg,  195 
Hezekiah's  prayer,  190 
Hooker,  175 
Hume,  20,  21,  25,  32;; 

Infidelity,  20,  29 

John,  St.,  38 

,,         gospel  or,  51,54;*,  1  88 
John  the  Baptist,  41^,  48 
Judgment,  Christ's  prerogative, 

H3 
Justification,  98-100,  184 

Kellogg,  Prof.,  68«, 


Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  69 
Lie,  the,  128,  180,  181 
"  Lux  Mundi,"  92^ 

Mansel,  Dean,  9,  27 

Martyrs,   the   Christian,    7,    80, 

8in,  152 

Matthew,  gospel  of,  51 
Mill,     John     Stuart,     33,    34, 

81 
Miracles,  definition  of,  24,  27, 

30,  161 

,,         evidential     value     of, 
25,  33-47,  48,  170 
,,         possibility      of,       17, 

23-32,  34 
,  ,         Paley  ?s  argument  from  , 

33  &c.,  48  &c. 
,,         of  Christ,   12,  30,  31, 
36,  37,  39 


Miracles,  cessation  of,  10, 17, 18, 

24,  49,  57,  58,  153, 
161,  170 

,,         rejection  of,  20,  29 
Missionaries,  157-158 

,,  massacres  of,  6 

"Mystery,"    meaning     of,     in 
Scripture,  109,  174-175 

Neptune,  discovery  of,  128 
Newmans,  the,  i6o;z 
Nicodemus,  37,  185 

Ordination  pledges,  157 

Paley,  33,  34,  48 
Paris,  Abbe,  32^. 
Paul,  St.,  conversion  of,  15,  38, 

39,55 
,,          ministry  of,  56,  57,  83, 

107,  137,  167-169 
,,          sufferings  of,  154 
Pentecostal  dispensation,  16,56, 

58,  72,  75,  169,  187,  1 88 
Peter,  St.,  15,27,38,49,75,88 
Prayer,  62,  186-191 
,,       Hezekiah's,  190 
,,       the  Lord's,  172 
Protestantism,  88,  93;;,  98 
If 

Rationalists,  the,  22 
Reconciliation,  114 
Religion,  asceticisms  of,  156 
,,         evil  effects  of,  80 
,,         Christianity  not  a,  36, 

43-45,66,  78, 1 66 
"Religion,"  use  of,  in  English 

Bible,  165 

Romans,  Epistle  to  the,  50,  54, 
1 06 


INDEX 


199 


"Sacrament,"  meaning  of,    175, 

176 

Salisbury,  Marquis  of,  fyi 
"  Samaritan,  the  good,"  100-103 
Satan,   117-131,   176-180,   181- 

183 

,,       controls     religion,      127, 
178,  182 

,,       fall  of,  150 
Sceptics,   the  religious,    21,   23, 

33,  88-94,  157,  193 
"  Sermon  on   the  Mount,"   87, 

128,  172-174 
Sin,  112,  120 
Spiritualism,  163 
Stephen,    St.,    14,    55,   79,  81, 

82 
"  Supernatural  Religion,"  54;; 


Swift,  Dean,  46 

Taylor,  Bp.,  175 
Temptation,  the,  125,  126,  176 
Temptations,  Satanic,  176-180 
Trench,  Archbp.,  112,  165,  166 
Tyndale,  Wm.,  92 
Tyndall,  Prof.,  146 

Van  Mildert,  Bp.,  32 

Wallace,  Prof.  A.  R.,  163 
"  Way,  the,"  86;z 
Westminster  Divines,  the,  133 
White,  Mr.  A.  D.,  192,  194 
Wilberforce,  Bp.,  135 
Wilkins,  Sergeant,  112/2 


UN-WIX   BROTHERS,  THE  GRESHAM  PRESS,  WOKING  AND  LONDON. 


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